Russia Launches Military Satellite Into Orbit

Russia on Tuesday launched a carrier rocket from its northern Plesetsk space center to put a military satellite in orbit, the Defense Ministry said.

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying a classified military satellite lifted off on schedule at 5.49 p.m. Moscow time (13:49 GMT), according to Col. Alexei Zolotukhin, a spokesman for Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces.

It was the second launch of a Soyuz-2 rocket from Plesetsk this year. The first launch on March 24 delivered a Glonass-M navigation satellite into orbit, Zolotukhin said.

Soyuz-2.1a, a three-stage carrier rocket with digital flight control system, was first launched in 2011.

It will be used at Plesetsk Cosmodrome to deliver military spacecraft to the orbit.

Source: RIA Novosti