PLESETSK, Arkhangelsk region. Dec 25 (Interfax-AVN) - A Rokot light launch vehicle carrying military satellites has taken off from the Plesetsk Space Center, Russian Aerospace Defense Forces spokesman Col. Dmitry Zenin said.
"The Rokot LV with a Briz-KM upper stage and a cluster of military satellite aboard was launched normally," Zenin told Interfax-AVN on Wednesday.
Consistent with the launch sequence, the satellites will reach the final orbit approximately 90 minutes after the takeoff. The orbital period of the satellites moving along a 1,500-kilometer circular orbit will be one hour and 55 minutes. The upper stage will be removed from orbit 15 minutes after the separation of the satellites.
Ballisticians expect the rocket's first and second stages and the payload fairing to fall to Earth over waters of the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.
This is the fourth Rokot mission conducted from Plesetsk in 2013, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Rokot light launch vehicle is a civilian modification of the decommissioned RS-18 (NATO reporting name Stiletto) two-stage intercontinental ballistic missile. Its takeoff weight is 107.5 tonnes. The launch vehicle carries satellites of up to two tonnes to low near-Earth orbits. The Rokot has three stages, the first two from the RS-18 and the third is Briz-KM.