Russia launches first Soyuz rocket since failed space launch

Russia on Thursday successfully launched a Soyuz rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 11. "This is the first launch of a rocket from the Soyuz family since the October 11 accident," Russia's space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter. It was the third launch of a Soyuz rocket from Russia's northern Plesetsk launch pad this year, the military said.