Russia successfully launches AIST satellite

Russian Aerospace Defense Force officials said Saturday they successfully launched a scientific and education satellite. The AIST satellite was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, ITAR-Tass reported. Once in space, the Volga upper stage successfully separated from the Soyuz-2.1b booster, the Russian Defense Ministry said. "A unit of Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces successfully launched the Soyuz-2.1b light-class booster with the Volga upper stage and the AIST spacecraft at 4:30 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday, December 28," Defense Ministry deputy spokesman Alexei Komarov said. The satellite was designed by students and young scientists from S.P. Korolev Samara State Aerospace University and will be used to develop technology and create microsatellites.