MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A Russian military satellite mounted atop a Briz-M booster successfully separated from the carrier rocket in the early hours of Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The top part of the Proton-M space rocket, comprising a Briz-M upper stage and a spacecraft launched in the interest of Russia's Defense Ministry, has separated from the third stage of the Proton-M heavy lifter at 1:17 a.m. as scheduled," the ministry told reporters.
The rocket took off at 1:07 a.m. Moscow time (22:07 GMT on Wednesday) from Kazakhstan's Baikonur spaceport. The ministry said it would take a few hours for the payload to reach the designated orbit.
