Russia's Second Attempt To Launch Angara Rocket Successful

Russia has successfully launched its first newly designed space rocket since the Soviet era after its high-profile debut was aborted in the final minutes last month.

The Angara rocket, which failed to launch on June 27, was successfully launched on July 9 from Russia's northern military Plesetsk cosmodrome.

The new generation Angara rockets are seen as the key to President Vladimir Putin's effort to reform the country's once-vaunted space industry after years of budget cuts and a brain drain in the 1990s.

The rocket is the first entirely designed and built within post-Soviet Russia's borders.

The rocket will fly a short suborbital path across Russia's Arctic coastline.

The failure of the previous launch was blamed on a drop in the pressure of an oxidizer tank.

Based on reporting by Reuters, RIA Novosti, and Interfax