Russian military launches communications satellite

The Russian military on Tuesday launched a Soyuz-2.1 carrier rocket with the Meridian communications satellite, the Defense Ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service said.

The rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia's northern Arkhangelsk region at 8:56 a.m. Moscow time (0556 GMT), and the satellite separated from the rocket nine minutes later and will be put into the orbit in a few hours.

This was the third launch of the Soyuz-2.1 rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome this year.

The previous one took place on July 10, when four military satellites were placed into the orbit. Another Soyuz-2.1 rocket carrying a Glonass navigation satellite was launched on May 27.