Russia’s rocket soars, North Korea mid-range missile test fails

An unmanned Russian Soyuz-2.1A rocket carrying three satellites roared off into a clear blue sky from the launch pad at Vostochny cosmodrome in the remote Amur Region near China’s border. 

The satellites separated from the rocket’s third stage about nine minutes into the flight, heading to their designated orbits, Russian news agencies quoted officials from the space agency Roscosmos as saying. 

Meanwhile, North Korea  tried and failed in what appeared to be its second attempt in two weeks to test a powerful, new medium-range ballistic missile, South Korea’s defence ministry said. 

North had fired what was believed to be a Musudan missile at from Wonsan on the east coast, but it plunged back to earth seconds after launch.