Posted: Sat, Jul 21, 2001, 10:10 AM ET (1410 GMT)
A Soyuz launch vehicles placed a Russian government satellite into orbit late Thursday night. The Soyuz lifted off at 8:17 pm EDT Thursday (0017 GMT Friday) from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. It placed into orbit an unidentified "governmental satellite", according to a press release by Starsem, the French-Russian joint venture that markets the Soyuz booster for commercial launches. The launch is the 6th for the Soyuz booster this year and the 1,660th successful launch in the history of the launch vehicle family.

Related Links:

•  Starsem press release