Posted: Sat, Aug 25, 2001, 10:04 AM ET (1404 GMT)
A Proton rocket successfully launched a classified military satellite late Friday night. The Proton-K lifted off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan at 4:34 pm EDT (2034 GMT) and placed into orbit six hours later a spacecraft designed only as Kosmos-2379. The nature of the spacecraft was not announced by Russian officials, but SPACE.com noted that the profile of the launch, and the placement of the spacecraft into geosynchronous orbit, suggests that the spacecraft is a military communications satellite. The launch was scheduled for Thursday but was scrubbed at the last minute because of a problem with the Proton.

Related Links:

•  SPACE.com article
•  AFP article