MOSCOW, March 16 - The launch of a Russian-Ukrainian military Dnepr conversion carrier rocket, with the CryoSat-2 European research satellite, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan has been set for early April, announced Vladimir Andreyev, the general director of the Dnepr launch operator Kosmotras.

"The Dnepr is to be launched on April 6. This date has been confirmed by the Russian space agency Roscosmos," he said.