Russia has successfully launched two European scientific research satellites with a Rokot carrier rocket from the Plesetsk space center in northwest Russia early Monday, said a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces.

The carrier rocket blasted off with the SMOS and the Proba-2 satellites at 04:50 a.m. Moscow time (0150 GMT), said Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) is scheduled to enter its orbit at an altitude of 756 km at 06:00 a.m. Moscow time (0300 GMT), and the Proba-2 (Project for On-Board Autonomy) mini-satellite at 07:50 a.m. Moscow time (0450 GMT), he added.

The launch mission of the 665-kg SMOS spacecraft is within the framework of the Living Planet Program of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The SMOS can produce global maps of high resolution and sensitivity showing variations in soil moisture and saline levels in the oceans.

In March, another satellite included in the program which will measure and map the earth's gravitational field, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, has already been successfully put into orbit.

The 130-kg Proba-2 mini-satellite, designed by ESA, will observe the earth's surface, test several new spacecraft technologies and carry out survey missions on the sun and the universe.

The Rokot launch vehicle is a converted version of the Soviet RS-18 missile.

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