MOSCOW: A Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sunday carrying Russia's first satellite for monitoring the Arctic's climate, the Roscosmos space agency said.

Russia has successfully launched its first satellite to monitor the Arctic's climate and environment, the country's space corporation Roscosmos statement added. The Arktika-M spacecraft was delivered to the orbit at 12.14 p.m., Xinhua news agency quoted the space corporation as further saying in the statement.

The creation of a satellite system in highly elliptical orbits is necessary for information collection to solve operational meteorology and hydrology problems, and monitoring the climate and environment in the Arctic region, it said.

The Arktika-M will provide round-the-clock continuous monitoring of the northern territory of Russia and the seas of the Arctic Ocean, Roscosmos added. The satellite will be able to transmit overview images of the Earth's northern polar region and the adjacent areas at least every 15-30 minutes.

UK scientists last month reported ice was disappearing across the world at a rate that matched "worst-case climate warming scenarios". The team from the universities of Edinburgh and Leeds and University College London found that some of the largest losses in the last three decades were from Arctic Sea ice.

Air fares from Heathrow Airport London to rise in April due to pandemic tariff

1 killed, 8 injured after Rockets hit US base in Iraq

NHAI's great work! Creates record laid 25km of single lane in 18 hours