Russia launches record number of spacecraft in 2014

Russia has launched a record number of spacecraft into orbit in 2014, an official report from the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) said. 

In 2014, Russia has launched 31 satellites for state needs, five commercial and 44 small satellites.

In addition, Russian companies have built and launched three spacecraft for foreign customers. In 2014, Russia also launched a Soyuz-STB rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana and a Zenit-2SL rocket under the Sea Launch program.

According to Roskosmos, Russia has retained the top place in the world on the number of space launches.

"The main achievement of this year is the birth of Angara carrier rockets. Experts of the Russian space industry and the Ministry of Defense of Russia successfully tested light class launch vehicles Angara-1.2 and heavy class Angara-A5," officials said.