Russia launched a Soyuz
rocket Wednesday carrying a covert military payload believed to be a spy
satellite with a high-resolution optical camera.
The Soyuz rocket lifted
off at 1658 GMT from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, according
to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
The launcher reached orbit
and deployed the spacecraft about eight minutes later, the Itar-Tass news
agency reported.
Russian military officials
said the craft would be named Kosmos 2450, fitting with the defense ministry's nomenclature
for military satellites.
Tracking data indicate
Kosmos 2450 is in an orbit with a high point of about 208 miles and a low point
of about 105 miles. The orbital inclination was reported as 67.1 degrees.
Analysts believe Kosmos
2450 is a Kobalt-class
satellite with retrievable film canisters that can return imagery to Earth
through a mission lasting at least several months.
Earlier Kobalt spy
satellites were operated in similar orbits.
Wednesday's launch was the
third Soyuz launch of the year and the 22nd space launch to successfully reach
orbit in 2009.
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