PARIS, March 10. /TASS/. Russia’s Soyuz carrier rocket, which blasted off the Kourou space center in French Guiana on Friday, put into orbit four communication satellites, Luce Fabreguettes, Arianespace’s Executive Vice President Missions, Operations and Purchasing, announced.

The Soyuz spacecraft orbited four 03b MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) satellites in the constellation operated by the SES Networks.

It was Soyuz’ 18th launch from French Guiana since it began service at the Spaceport in 2011.

Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel said after the orbital injection: "With this second launch of the year, and the first by Soyuz, Arianespace is proud to help its long-standing customer SES meet its ambitious goals, for the second time in 2018."

"I would like to thank the Russian space agency Roscosmos for their commitment to our partnership based on Soyuz," Arianespace’s press release quoted CEO Israel as saying.

O3b satellites are built by Thales Alenia Space at its plant in Cannes, France. The satellites weighed a combined total of 2,800 kilograms at liftoff (700 kilograms per satellite).