You're reading: RFE/RL: Russia launches Angola’s first telecom satellite using Ukrainian rocket

Russia on December 26 launched a rocket carrying Angola’s first telecom satellite from the Baikonur space center with the rare use of a rocket from Ukraine, despite collapsed ties between the two nations.

Live footage aired by Russia’s Roscosmos space agency showed the spacecraft take off into the night from the freezing launch pad in Kazakhstan. It reached initial orbit shortly after.

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