MOSCOW, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched a carrier rocket and sent into orbit a military satellite on Tuesday, news agencies reported.

    The Molniya-M rocket, with a Kosmos series military satellite atop, blasted off from the Plesetsk space center Tuesday morning and the satellite was put into orbit about one hour later, Russian Space Troops spokesman Alexei Zolotukhin was quoted as saying.

    Commander of the Space Troops Vladimir Popovkin said earlier this month that the Space Troops would launch several military satellites this year.

    Russia has now more than 60 military and dual-purpose satellites in orbit for communications and intelligence, Popovkin said.