Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket will launch a European telecommunications satellite Ka-Sat from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Monday.
The launch of the six-tonne Ka-Sat will become the twelfth for Proton-M carrier rocket this year and the 363rd in its history. Ka-Sat is made by EADS Astrium for Eutelsat, a leading provider of satellite telecommunications in Europe.
This will be the first launch of Proton-M carrier rocket after it veered off course and sunk in the Pacific Ocean on December 5, losing three Glonass-M satellites, a spokesman for Roscosmos said.
The launch was previously scheduled for December 20. The satellites were supposed to finalize the creation of Russia's Glonass Global Navigation Satellite System.
Officials said the failure occurred because the amount of oxidant exceeded the norm by 1-1.5 tons and excessive weight prevented the Proton-M rocket from putting the satellites into the orbit.
MOSCOW, December 26 (RIA Novosti)
