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Soyuz Rocket Launches 38 Satellites For 18 Countries


The Soyuz rocket successfully launched on March 22.
The Soyuz rocket successfully launched on March 22.

The Russian space agency, Roskosmos, says that a Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on March 22 carrying 38 foreign satellites after takeoff was twice postponed due to technical issues.

Video posted by Roskosmos showed the Soyuz craft launching early in the morning.

"The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage and 38 spacecraft from 18 countries took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome," Roskosmos said on its Twitter account.

The rocket will place in orbit 38 satellites from countries including South Korea, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy, and Brazil.

Among them is the Challenge-1, the first satellite made completely in Tunisia.

The launch had twice been postponed from March 20 after a voltage surge was detected.

Based on reporting by TASS, Interfax, and AFP

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