The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the Egyptsat-A satellite has been launched from the Baikonur spaceport, a space industry official told TASS on Thursday.

"The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b space rocket with an Egyptsat-A spacecraft was carried out from the Baikonur spaceport," the source said.

Nine minutes after the launch, the Fregat upper stage and the Egyptian satellite are scheduled to separate from the third stage, after which the satellite will be put to the designated orbit.

The Egyptian satellite was expected to be launched on November 22, 2018, however, the launch was rescheduled multiple times.

The EgyptSat-A Earth’s remote sensing satellite was developed by the Russian Energia Space Rocket Corporation instead of the EgyptSat-2 vehicle that went out of order in 2015.