Russia launches its first Arctic-monitoring satellite

Russia successfully launched its first "Arktika-M" satellite on Sunday to monitor the Arctic's climate and environment, reported Xinhua, quoting a press release of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos.

A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with the satellite on board blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 09:55 a.m. Moscow time (0655 GMT), Roscosmos said.

The Arktika-M spacecraft was delivered to the orbit at 12:14 p.m. Moscow time (0914 GMT), it added.

The creation of a satellite system in highly elliptical orbits is necessary for information collection to solve operational meteorology and hydrology problems, and monitoring the climate and environment in the Arctic region, it said.

The Arktika-M will provide round-the-clock continuous monitoring of the northern territory of Russia and the seas of the Arctic Ocean, Roscosmos said.