MOSCOW, July 21 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian carrier rocket has successfully put one military and one civilian satellite into orbit, a spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.
The Cosmos-3M rocket lifted off earlier on Tuesday from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia.
The military satellite is a new addition to a Russian network of about 60-70 military reconnaissance satellites, and a Sterkh series civilian satellite is set to expand Russia's segment of the international COSPAS-SARSAT satellite grouping.
The Sterkh-series satellites are designed to replace the Nadezhda series in the International Satellite System for Search and Rescue (COSPAS-SARSAT). Unlike the Nadezhda satellites, the Sterkh series does not provide navigation services, which have been taken over by Russia's GLONASS system.
The Cosmos-3M is a liquid-fueled two-stage rocket, first launched in 1967, with over 410 successful launches to date. The booster has been designed to lift a payload of up to 1,500 kg (3,300 lbs) into low, medium, and high orbits.
Russia has carried out 17 successful space launches since the beginning of 2009.
