Soyuz-2.1a Carrier Rocket to Put Meridian Satellite Into Orbit: Russian Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - A Meridian communications satellite will be put into orbit by the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense told RIA Novosti Thursday.

"The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Meridian space vehicle is scheduled for October 30, 2014," the spokesperson for Russia’s Aerospace Defense Forces Col. Alexei Zolotukhin said.

Soyuz-2.1a, a three-stage carrier rocket with a digital flight control system, was first launched in 2011.

The last successful launch of a dual-purpose Meridian-series telecoms satellite took place on November 14, 2012. The satellite was put into orbit by a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket launched from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia.