Russia's Soyuz spacecraft with six U.S. satellites to blast off July 11

Russia's Soyuz-2.1a space carrier with six U.S. Globalstar-2 communications satellites will be launched on July 11, a statement from the Russian Space Agency said on Friday.The spacecraft equipped with a Fregat booster is scheduled to blast off at 6:58 Moscow time (2:58 GMT) from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.Globalstar is a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite-based telecommunications system founded by U.S.-based Loral Corporation and Qualcomm Inc. It provides high-quality satellite voice and data services across North America, and to over 120 countries worldwide.Commercial launches of Soyuz carrier rockets are managed by Starsem, a European-Russian joint venture, which comprises EADS SPACE, Arianespace, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and the Samara-based Progress design and production center.