Russia puts ESA's GOCE satellite into orbit

MOSCOW, March 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian Rockot launch vehicle successfully put into orbit on Tuesday the European GOCE satellite, which will measure and map the Earth's gravitational field, a spokesman for Russia's Space Forces said.

The Rockot was launched at 5.21 p.m. Moscow time (14.21 GMT) from the Plesetsk space center in northwest Russia.

The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite was developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) to provide unique models of the Earth's gravity on a global scale, and with unprecedented accuracy and spatial resolution.

The Rockot launch vehicle is a modified version of the Russian RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile. It uses the original two lower stages of the ICBM, in conjunction with a Breeze-KM upper-stage for commercial payloads.

The contract to launch GOCE was concluded between the ESA and Eurockot Launch Services GmbH, a joint venture of the Khrunichev center (49%) and EADS Astrium (51%).