MOSCOW (AP) -- One soldier died when a rocket carrying a research satellite exploded a few seconds after liftoff from a launch pad in northern Russia, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Wednesday.

Eight other soldiers were injured in the Tuesday night accident at the Plesetsk launch facility, Russian news agencies reported. The Defense Ministry spokesman, who declined to give his name, said he could not confirm the report of injuries.

The Plesetsk facility, which is operated by the Russian military's Space Forces, is the launch site for many of Russia's unmanned spacecraft.

In the Tuesday launch, a Soyuz-U rocket blasted off carrying a Foton-M satellite that contained scientific experiments from several countries including Russia and the United States.

The rocket exploded about 20-30 seconds after liftoff, officials said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately determined.

The Foton-M was to operate as an orbital laboratory, containing technological and research experiments from Russia, and countries in the European Space agency as well as the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Japan, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.