On November 2, 2010 the "Soyuz-2.1 a” rocket-carrier and the "Fregat” upper stage orbited the "Meridian” Russian military communication satellite.The rocket was launched at 01:01 UTC from Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia. It was the third Meridian satellite launched since 2006. The Meridian satellites are replacements for Molniya communications satellites providing coverage of high latitude polar regions of Russia.