OREANDA-NEWS. May 29, 2014. The Rockot launch vehicle that lifted off from Plesetsk Cosmodrome has lofted to orbit three military satellites for Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
 
The Rockot launch operations were performed by the Russian Aerospace Defence Force.
 
The liftoff proceeded nominally. The subsequent phases of payload injection into the target orbit were implemented by means of the Breeze KM upper stage. The satellites separated from the upper stage on Friday, May 23,  at the predicted times.
 
This was the first Rockot launch of 2014.
 
Rockot is a three-stage liquid propellant launcher based on the converted Russian RC-18 (SS19) Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The launch vehicle includes a booster unit and an upper stage, Breeze KM. The booster unit consists of an SS19 ICBM, which forms Rockot’s first and second stages. Russia’s Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow is the designer and manufacturer of the Rockot launch system and the Breeze KM upper stage
 
Since its maiden flight on May 16, 2000, the Rockot launch vehicle has performed a total of 21 launches from Plesetsk Cosmodrome.