Russia has successfully launched four U.S. Globalstar satellites into orbit on board a Soyuz-FG carrier rocket from a space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency said Wednesday. According to the Russian news agency , RIA Novosti, the rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center at 00.31 a.m. Moscow time (8.31 p.m. GMT Tuesday) and put the satellites into transitional orbit. "The separation of satellites from the Fregat booster occurred at the designated time and control over the spacecraft was passed to the customer," a spokesman for the Russian Federal Space Agency said. Globalstar is a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based telecommunications system founded by U.S.-based Loral Corporation and Qualcomm Inc. It provides high-quality satellite voice and data services across North America and to over 120 countries worldwide. Commercial launches of Soyuz carrier rockets are managed by Starsem, a European-Russian joint venture, which comprises EADS SPACE, Arianespace, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the Samara-based Progress design and production center. -- SPA
