Russia's Strategic Space Forces launched a military satellite today from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to keep tabs on international arms agreements.
While orbiting the Earth from 99 miles to 235 miles away, the 6 1/2-ton Kosmos satellite will take pictures of the earth, eventually returning the photographs via two landing capsules.
Early next week, Russia plans to put another Kosmos satellite into orbit from a Soyuz-U booster rocket to be fired off in northern Russia. The first Kosmos probe was launched in 1974; traditionally, these satellites have been used to photograph the earth's surface. On December 24, Russia will also launch an American Early Bird satellite from the Svobodny cosmodrome in Siberia.
