MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) — Russia has launched a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with a Meridian communications satellite from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia, the Defense Ministry's spokesperson told RIA Novosti Thursday.
The rocket was successfully launched at 4:43 a.m. Moscow time (01:43 GMT), Col. Alexei Zolotukhin, a spokesperson for Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces said, adding that the launch was completed in the usual mode.
This is the fourth time that a Soyuz-2 rocket was launched from the Plesetsk space center this year.
The Soyuz-2 three-stage carrier rocket is an upgraded version of the Soyuz rocket, which has been used in Russia's manned and unmanned space programs since the 1960s. Soyuz-2 can carry a payload of 7,800 kilograms into the Earth's orbit and 4,500 kilograms into higher orbits.
Soyuz-2.1a, a three-stage carrier rocket with a digital flight control system, was first launched in 2011.
