2nd LD Writethru: Russia launches rocket from newly-built Vostochny Cosmodrome

Russia launched a Soyuz-2.1a space rocket from the newly-built Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far Eastern Amur region in the early hours of Thursday, TASS news agency reported.

The rocket blasted off from the cosmodrome at 5:01 a.m. Moscow time (0201 GMT), one day after the first launch attempt was aborted due to the failure of the rocket's automatic control system.

The Soyuz-2.1a is carrying three small satellites -- Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218.

The satellites separated from the rocket's third stage some nine minutes into the flight, heading toward designated orbits, said Russia's space agency Roscosmos.

SamSat-218 is scheduled to separate from the "Volga" boost at 7:06:49 Moscow time, and 10 seconds later the other two satellites will separate from the orbital module.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has flown thousands of kilometers from Moscow to the space port to witness the liftoff of the carrier rocket.

After the successful launch, he congratulated the country's space agency Roscosmos on it, saying "it is undoubtedly a very serious, significant step in the development of the Russian space industry."

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and Igor Komarov, general director of Roscosmos, also observed the launch.

The construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome with an area of some 700 square kilometers began in 2012. It is projected to be the first national facility for civilian space launches, ensuring Russia's full-scale access to outer space and reducing Russia's dependence on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Endi