MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian Aerospace Forces assumed control over newest military satellite launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.
"The spacecraft launched in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry from the Baikonur Cosmodrome was put to the final orbit at the estimated time and the ground facilities of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces assumed control over it," the ministry said.
"After control was taken, the spacecraft received the serial number 'Kosmos-2520,'" the ministry added.
The Proton-M carrier rocket has been launched on August 17 at 1:07 a.m. Moscow time (22:07 GMT on Wednesday) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and 10 minutes later, the Briz-M upper stage with the satellite has split from the third stage of the Proton rocket.