The Soyuz TMA-11M rocket. Photo: NASA / Bill Ingalls

[Via Satellite 11-07-13] Arianespace has carried out an exciting launch in Kazakhstan carrying the Olympic torch into the space as part its preparations for the Winter Olympics next year, which will take place in Sochi, Russia. The Soyuz launch carrying a crew of three along with the Olympic torch occurred at 8:14 a.m. MSK from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Arianespace and its Russian partners report that the Soyuz TMA-11M manned transport spacecraft was accurately placed on the target orbit for another mission to the International Space Station (ISS) This was the twelfth Soyuz family mission in 2013. The Soyuz spacecraft is regularly part of the European launch vehicle fleet, together with the heavy-lift Ariane 5 and the lightweight Vega.