Moscow, July 30 (IANS) The Russian military on Tuesday launched a Soyuz-2.1 carrier rocket with the Meridian communications satellite.

The rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia's northern Arkhangelsk region at 8.56 a.m. (Moscow time) and the satellite separated from the rocket nine minutes later, said the Defence Ministry's Zvezda broadcasting service.

This was the third launch of the Soyuz-2.1 rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome this year. The previous one took place on July 10, when four military satellites were placed into the orbit, Xinhua news agency reported.

Another Soyuz-2.1 rocket carrying a Glonass navigation satellite was launched on May 27.

--IANS soni/