Posted: Mon, Jun 10, 2013, 6:12 AM ET (1012 GMT)

A Soyuz rocket placed a sophisticated reconnaissance satellite for the Russian military into orbit on Friday. The Soyuz 2-1b rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 2:37 pm EDT (1837 GMT) and placed the Kosmos-2486 satellite into orbit. The satellite is believed to be the second in the Persona class of advanced reconnaissance satellites. The first Persona satellite failed shortly after launch in 2008.