MOSCOW, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- A Russian rocket sent eight foreign satellites into their orbits on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.

    The Dnepr rocket blasted off at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:30 am Moscow time (0630 GMT), Interfax quoted an official from Russia's space forces as saying.

    "The goal of the launch is to confirm the rocket's main flight characteristics under the program to extend its service life and put the satellites into their orbits," the official said.

    Itar-Tass quoted the space forces' press service as saying that the satellites, including one from France, one from Italy, three from Saudi Arabia and three from the United States, entered their target orbits at 10:46 am Moscow time (0646 GMT) and were handed over to the customers for operation.

    The French and Italian satellites are used for scientific researches, while the Saudi Arabian and the US satellites are designed for various purposes.

    The Dnepr carrier rocket was developed on the basis of the RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missile and can be used to put space vehicles with a payload of up to 3.5 tons into high-elliptical orbits. Enditem