Tri-Service

Russia Releases Footage Of Second Carrier Rocket Launch

The Russian Ministry of Defence has released footage of the successful launch of a new carrier rocket, after one of its military satellites fell back to Earth.

The 'Soyuz- 2.1V' was launched on Saturday from the Plesetsk State Test Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport dating back to the 1950s, located around 500 miles north of Moscow.

It was the same day the country lost an advanced military satellite after launch, after it failed to separate from its Soyuz-2.1B booster rocket.

The satellite, named Kanopus-ST, after the star Canopus, took a decade to develop and was intended for both civilian and military use.

The Kremlin hoped it would be able spot submarines from space, as well as scanning the Earth's oceans and weather systems.

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But it's now returned to Earth, splashing into the Atlantic, with reports in the South Korean press suggesting it came down on Tuesday.

Another satellite carried by the Soyuz-2.1B is reported to have successfully separated from the rocket, however, and is orbiting normally.

Russia's lost expensive satellites on a number of occasions in recent years.

Last year, another Russian rocket fell back to Earth, carrying its most advanced communication satellite to date, whilst in 2013 a rocket carrying three Russian-made Glonass navigation satellites also failed.