Russia successfully launched new version of Soyuz rocket

Reuters quoted a source from the Russian Defense Ministry as saying that on December 28, the country successfully launched an upgraded version of the Soviet-designed Soyuz rocket, contributing to promoting Moscow's troubled space program.

Soyuz 2.1v rocket. (Source: Roskosmos)

The Soyuz 2.1v rocket lifted off on the same afternoon from the Plesetsk launch site in the Arkhangelsk region of northwestern Russia.
This was the first launch of a Soyuz 2.1v rocket to put an Earth-monitoring scientific satellite into orbit, a spokesman said.
The Soyuz 2.1v is the newest member of the Soyuz rocket family, which has been the most frequently used rocket in the world since its first launch in 1966.
In 1961, the first version of the Soyuz rocket, the Vostok, launched cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space.
According to Interfax, the launch of the Soyuz 2.1v rocket with a new engine and digital guidance system was initially scheduled for early 2012 but was postponed due to an accident during testing that damaged the engine. The launch scheduled for early this week was also postponed./.

According to VNA