"The Proton-M heavy-lift rocket with a payload commissioned by the Defense Ministry was successfully launched from Baikonur," a spokesperson for the ministry told reporters.
The launch took place at 1:12 a.m. Moscow time (22:15GMT) and went off smoothly, the spokesperson added.
18 April 2018, 05:02 GMT
A Briz-M upper stage separated from the rocket ten minutes later. The satellite was expected to reach the designated orbit in a few hours, according to the Defense Ministry.
Previous month, Russia launched a light-class Soyuz-2.1V carrier rocket with a military satellite onboard. TIt was the first launch of the Soyuz rocket from Russian Plesetsk space center in 2018.
