MOSCOW, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - A satellite will be launched in early October from the Plesetsk Space Center in the north of European Russia, for high-precision monitoring of the thickness and length of ice sheets, a source in the Russian space forces said.

The 3.5-year CryoSAT mission will monitor Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland, polar sea zones and mountain glaciers, as well as changes in the Ocean level, the source said.

The project is worth 70 million euros and will be launched on the Russian Rokot booster.

CryoSAT is the first spacecraft to be launched within the Living Planet, initiated by the European Space Agency in 1998. The program envisions 12 missions to explore the Earth from space.