According to the president, the fact that automatic control systems aborted the first launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket on April 27 was a safety measure that confirmed the high quality of the whole system.

"The automatic control system reinsured yesterday, decided to hold preparations one more time. It did not make it worse, on the contrary, everything was done qualitatively, at the highest level. In fact, if you know, they say that you need to eat the pudding to confirm its quality. So, in order to confirm the cosmodrome’s readiness for work, the first launch should be made. You have done this, congratulations," Putin said addressing constructors and employees of the Roscosmos space agency.

He reminded that the presidential decree on the construction of the Vostochny spaceport was signed in 2007. "This is the first part of enormous work. Everything that needed to be done has been done at the highest level," Putin said.

Kremlin chief of staff Sergey Ivanov also congratulated Roscosmos with the successful launch. The president later put his signature on the builders’ hard hats according to tradition.