On December 5, 2003 Russia performed a successful launch of the Strela space launcher. It was the first launch of a launcher of this type, which is a converted UR-100NUTTH (SS-19) combat missile. The launch was conducted at 09:00 DMV (06:00 UTC) from a silo at the Baykonur launch site.

The rocket carried a payload, which was delivered to the orbit with the inclination of 67 degrees, apogee of 473 km, and perigee of 465 km. The NORAD catalog number of the deployed object is 28098, the international designation is 2003-055A.

The payload is reported to be a mockup of the Condor-E satellite (Cosmoworld.ru), which is a prospective remote sensing and reconnaissance satellite, developed by the NPO Mashinostroyeniya.