Soyuz rocket blasts off from French Guiana after Friday's failed first try
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A Soyuz rocket lifting off from the Kourrou space base,French Guiana, Saturday Dec. 1, 2012, and placed into orbit an Earth observation satellite for France, space officials said. PHOTO: AP
KOUROU, French Guiana (Reuters) By Franck Leconte - A Russian-made Soyuz rocket blasted off from French Guiana on Saturday and placed into orbit an Earth observation satellite for France, space officials said.
It is the fourth time that Soyuz, which first flew in 1966 and traces its roots back even further to the earliest Cold War intercontinental ballistic missiles, has been launched from outside its former Soviet bases.
The rocket lifted off at 11.02pm (0202 GMT on Sunday) from a launch pad at Europe's space base near Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeast coast of South America.
A first launch attempt on Friday was scrubbed due to a technical problem.
