By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia successfully put a new Express-AM33 telecommunications satellite into orbit Monday, the Federal Space Agency said.
The satellite, designed by the Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Science and Production Association to provide TV and satellite communications all over Russia, was launched on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan.
“The separation of the spacecraft from a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M booster took place on schedule and without complications,” said Roscosmos, a spokesman for the space agency.
Proton-M launch services are provided by Russian-American joint venture International Launch Services (ILS), which received $1.5 billion in new launch orders last year.
ILS is owned by Space Transport Inc, Khrunichev State Research and Production Centre, and RSC Energia.
Another scheduled launch, of the Thor-2R communications satellite owned by Norway’s Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, will take place on February 10.