Russia Launches Military Satellite

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, December 22, 2001

Russia Launches Military Satellite

Russia successfully launched a military satellite into orbit with a Tsiklon-2 light class rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, said the Russian Space Troops press service.

Russia successfully launched a military satellite into orbit with a Tsiklon-2 light class rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Friday, said the Russian Space Troops press service.

The carrier rocket blasted off from the base at 07:00 a.m. Moscow time (0400 GMT) and injected a Defense Ministry's Cosmos-2383 satellite into a designated orbit five minutes later, the press service announced.

The delivery of the rocket to a launch pad and its lift-off were made automatically for the first time. Cosmodrome specialistscontrolled the carrier's flight and the procedure of putting the satellite into orbit.

The satellite is being monitored by the Russian Space Troops, with reliable and effective communications maintained, the servicesaid.