Article Posted on : - May 22, 2009

Soyuz 2- took place successfully from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. A File photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia successfully launched and orbited on Friday a military communications satellite of the Kosmos series from its Plesetsk cosmodrome.

�The modernized Soyuz-2 rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk launching site at 01:53 hours Moscow time (2153 GMT Thursday) and successfully placed the payload into the near-Earth orbit,� said Space Forces spokesman, as reported by Russian news agencies.

Space Forces Commander, Major General Oleg Ostapenko said �we have been waiting long for this military satellite. It will fulfill its mission in orbit,� he said, adding the launch went excellently.

�It was the sixth successful launch of the modernized Soyuz-2 rocket in the framework of test flights,� said Sergei Tyulevin, first deputy director of Progress design bureau, adding launches will continue from Plesetsk, Baikonur, and Kourou in French Guiana.

The Russian Space Forces is the branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation responsible for military space operations. And the Soyuz-2 is the collective designation for the new generation versions of the Russian Soyuz rocket.