Article Posted on : - Dec 29, 2013

A file photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia on Saturday successfully launched a new variant of its workhorse Soyuz rocket which placed in orbit a small research satellite built by students and young scientists.

The Soyuz-2.1V, an upgraded version of the Soyuz family of rockets featuring a new NK-33 engine, was launched from the Plesetsk space centre in northern Russia at 16:30 Moscow time (12:30 GMT)

The launch of the two-stage Rocket was originally planned for Monday (Dec. 23) but was delayed several times in the week due to technical issues, Ria Novosti reported.

The new rocket omits the four boosters which have comprised the first stage of the Soyuz and its ancestors have had since the R-7 missile that launched Sputnik in 1957.

The Soyuz has undergone more than 1,700 launches since its debut in 1966, the news agency said.

It is one of only two rockets worldwide that are capable of sending astronauts into orbit, the other being the Chinese Long March 2F.