atmosphereMoscow, Oct 13 (AFP) Russia today launched a Europeansatellite dedicated to monitoring Earth's atmosphere, theprotective layer that shields the planet from the sun'sradiation, live footage from the cosmodrome showed.
The Sentinel-5P orbiter took off on time at 0927 GMT fromthe Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia.
The satellite - carried by Russia's Rokot rocket, basedon the former Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile - leftbehind billows of yellow smoke, footage broadcast by theEuropean Space Agency showed.
The satellite will form part of the Copernicus project, ajoint initiative of the European Union and the European SpaceAgency to track environmental damage and aid disaster reliefoperations.
It will be the first satellite dedicated to monitoringEarth's atmosphere for Copernicus, and the sixth satellite tojoin the Copernicus constellation.
Others launched since April 2014 monitor forest cover andland and water pollution.(AFP)AMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.