Posted: Sun, Jul 29, 2012, 12:48 PM ET (1648 GMT)
A Russian Rockot vehicle, launching for the first time in a year in a half, placed four small satellites into orbit on Saturday. The Rockot lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 9:35 pm EDT Friday (0135 GMT, 5:35 am Moscow time Saturday) and placed four satellites into highly inclined orbits at an altitude of about 1,500 kilometers. Three of the satellites are store-and-forward communications satellites, one for the military and designated Cosmos 2481, and two civilian Gonets-M satellites. The four satellite on the Rockot was a small technology demonstration satellite called MiR. The launch was the first for the Rockot since February 1, 2011, when a problem with the Rockot's upper stage stranded a small military satellite in the wrong orbit.

Related Links:

•  RIA Novosti article
•  Xinhua article
•  UPI article