Russia has launched a modified version of its Soyuz rocket, with a mysterious satellite on board.
The rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on the edge of the Russian Arctic on Friday evening.
While
the satellite's mission remains unknown, rumours suggest it may be used
to take accurate measurements of the Earth's shape and gravity to guide
ballistic missiles.
The Soyuz-2-1v rocket was launched at
18:04 GMT (15:04 EDT) on Friday, and Russia announced the successful
launch in a statement on the Russian Defense Ministry's website.
The
ministry said: 'The Soyuz-2.1v small-lift carrier rocket that was
launched from the Plesetsk space center at 21:04 Moscow time put a
Russian defense ministry satellite into the operational orbit in due
time.'
While the statement does not
indicate where the satellite is heading, US military tracking data shows
that the rocket's upper stage was orbiting around 410 miles (660
kilometres) above Earth following Friday's mission.
Rumours
suggest that the satellite, which has been named Kosmos 2519, may be
the first of several '14F150 Napryazhenie' geodetic satellites designed
to make accurate measurements of Earth's shape and gravitational field.
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