MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - The launch of a Proton-M Russian carrier rocket, carrying a U.S. AMC-23 satellite (WorldSat-3) was postponed one day until December 7, a space agency official said Monday.
"The launch was postponed due to the revealed problems in the systems of the Russian Briz-M booster, manufactured by the Khrunichev center," Federal Space Agency spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko said.
The AMC-23/WorldSat-3 was manufactured by French company AAS and is owned by the United States' SES AMERICOM, a provider of satellite communications. The satellite has a flight weight of 5.027kg and a calculated service life of 16 years.
Proton-M carrier rockets and Briz-M boosters are manufactured by the Russian Khrunichev Space Center.
Launch services are provided under contract with the joint venture International Launch Services (ILS), which includes Lockheed Martin and Khrunichev.
