Russian rocket that worried Inuit groups launched Saturday, Canada says

The federal government says a Russian rocket that upsetInuit groups over its potential to pollute Arctic waters with toxicfuel has launched.

A spokesman for the federal public safety department saystherocket blasted off Saturday morning.

Kevin Miller saidthe government monitored the launch andre-entry of debris closely.

In an email he said no debris had been observed falling onCanadian territory as of Sunday morning.

• Danger of Russian rocket debris downplayed by officials, but Arctic locals fear it
• Toxic splash? Russian rocket stage to come down in Canada's Arctic waters

The Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, tweeted video of a rocket launch Saturday.

A stage of the Russian satellite-launching rocket was expected tofall into Baffin Bay between Ellesmere Island and Greenland outsideCanadian territorial waters, but within seas over which Canada haseconomic control.

Published reports from experts on the Russian space programsuggest it's normal for about 10 per cent of the fuel in the mainstage to remain unburned, and an Arctic contaminant specialist atthe University of Manitoba says the hydrazine fuel is highly toxicand is known to persist in water.

The launch took place at Plesetsk, a Russian spaceport about 800 kilometres north of Moscow.

Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, also tweeted these photos Saturday.