“Russia on Thursday successfully launched the first rocket from its new space facility after a last-minute delay the day before. The Soyuz 2.1a booster blasted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far Easter in the early hours Moscow time on Thursday. The Roscosmos space agency said in a statement that the three satellites the rocket was carrying orbited several hours later. The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was called off 1 ½ minute before the planned lift off. President Vladimir Putin flew to Vostochny for the launch and had to extend his stay in order to see it on Thursday. Putin, who watched the launch from about a mile (1.6 kms) away on Thursday. congratulated the facility's staff. “This is just the first stage of enormous work, and everything you were supposed to do you did brilliantly”, he said in televised comments. The launch pad is so far equipped only for the launches of rockets carrying small cargo like satellites. More facilities have to be built there to accommodate heavy-lift launch vehicles and service manned launches. Roscosmos officials said on Wednesday the space agency was working to pinpoint what went wrong on Wednesday. The construction of the vast space complex some 5,500 kilometers (3,400 miles) east of Moscow has been troubled by delays – the first launch had been expected about four months ago – and dogged by corruption scandals. Workers who had complained of going unpaid for months went on strike last spring. The directors of three project subcontractors were arrested on corruption charges”. – The Associated Press



A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites stands on the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 km from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region on April 27, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavstev/Reuters)





(R-L) Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chief of president's staff Sergei Ivanov and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin attend a meeting with space officials after the inaugural launch of a Soyuz rocket was called off because of a technical fault at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, April 27, 2016. (Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev/Reuters/Sputnik/Kremlin)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. The launch of the first rocket from Russia's new space facility has been delayed after a last-minute problem. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a launch of a Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny Cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites leaves a trail of smoke as it lifts off from the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites leaves a trail of smoke as it lifts off from the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)





A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket carrying Lomonosov, Aist-2D and SamSat-218 satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Uglegorsk, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the city of Blagoveshchensk in the far eastern Amur region Thursday, April 28, 2016. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool Photo via AP Photo)