Posted: Wed, Dec 20, 2006, 11:41 AM ET (1641 GMT)
A Russian Kosmos rocket successfully launched the first in a series of German radar imagery satellites on Tuesday. The Kosmos-3M rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 9 am EST (1400 GMT, 5 pm Moscow time) Tuesday and placed the SAR-Lupe 1 into a 500-kilometer low Earth orbit about a half hour later. The satellite, built by OHB-System for the German military, is the first of five satellites designed to provide radar imagery, and is the first satellite ever for the German military. The other satellites in the system will be launched in intervals of four to six months. The launch is the first time a Russian vehicle has launched a European military satellite.

Related Links:

•  RIA Novosti article
•  Itar-Tass article
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  OHB-System press release