MOSCOW, October 19 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian rocket carrying a European weather satellite lifted off on Thursday from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, Russia's Federal Space Agency said.

The first launch of the Soyuz 2-1A, Russia's new generation carrier rocket, with the MetOp satellite had been delayed several times since its original July 17 launch date, mainly for technical reasons.

The four-ton MetOp is to be put into orbit for weather forecasting and climate monitoring. Three MetOp satellites will be launched in total, at a cost of 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion).