Russians Launch U.S., Saudi Satellites

Russia’s space agency successfully launched eight satellites including two U.S. ones in a single payload from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Tuesday.

The satellites were all successfully separated and placed in orbit within 30 minutes of the launch of their Dnepr booster. The payload comprised three U.S. satellites, three Saudi Arabian, one Italian and one French.

It included the Saudi Sat-2, ComSat-1 and ComSat-2 radio communications satellites and the U.S. LatinSat-C, LatinSat-D and AMSat-Echo communications satellites. The payload was completed with the Demeter satellite to measure electromagnetic fields and the Italian UniSat-3 designed to test solar cells under space conditions.

The launch was the fourth successful firing of the 200-ton Dnepr booster. The Russian-Ukrainian rocket used by Russia’s Federal Spacer Agency was developed from the old RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, code-named by NATO the SS-18.