Posted: Sun, Jul 20, 2014, 1:49 PM ET (1749 GMT)
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched the latest in a series of biological and materials research spacecraft early Saturday. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket launched the Foton-M 4 satellite at 4:50 pm EDT Friday (2050 GMT Friday, 2:50 am local time Saturday) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The spacecraft, weighing 6,840 kilograms, carries a payload of plants and animals, as well as materials science experiments. The spacecraft will remain in orbit for up to 60 days before returning the experiments to Earth.
