Russia launched 6 American satellites

Russia's Soyuz boosters launched six US Globalstar-2 satellites into orbit yesterday.

Russian Soyuz boosters put 6 American spacecraft into orbit. Photo: RIA Novosti.

Xinhua said the launch was carried out from Baikonur space airport, Kazakhstan. Previously, according to the original plan, the launch was made on July 11, but had to be postponed twice due to a missile's automatic device failure.

The first six Globalstar-2 satellites were launched into orbit by Russian missiles last October. This year, Russia will launch a total of 18 Globalstar-2 satellites. Each Globalstar-2 satellite weighs nearly 700 kg and has an orbit of 15 years.

Globalstar is a low orbit information satellite (LEO) manufactured by Loral Qualcomm. This satellite provides high quality voice and data acquisition services for North America and over 100 countries around the world.