MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has launched a Proton-M carrier rocket with an Astra 1M satellite on board, a spokesman for the Russian Space Agency said Thursday.
The launch took place at 23:44 p.m. Moscow time (20:44 GMT) from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
"The spacecraft is scheduled to separate from the carrier rocket at 8:56 a.m. Moscow time (5:56 a.m. GMT)," the spokesman said.
International Launch Services Inc (ILS) and SES Satellite Leasing signed a contract to launch five telecommunications satellites on board Proton-M carrier rockets by the end of 2013.
The Luxemburg-based SES is a global provider of satellite telecommunications services that operates mainly through SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in North America and SES NEW SKIES in Africa, South America, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.
The new satellite will expand the SES satellite group, which currently consists of 36 satellites.
The ASTRA satellite fleet delivers high quality broadcasting to over 117 million European households.
International Launch Services is a U.S.-Russian joint venture with exclusive rights for worldwide commercial sales and mission management of satellite launches on Russia's Proton carrier rockets.
The joint venture partners are Space Transport Inc., a privately held corporation based in the British Virgin Islands, the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and RSC Energia of Moscow.
The company has conducted over 45 commercial Proton launches since 1996, and has 15 scheduled launches planned through 2010.
The Proton vehicle launches both commercial ILS missions and Russian government payloads from the Baikonur space center, which is operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) under lease from the Republic of Kazakhstan.
