A Russian Proton-M rocket carrier with a Chinese satellite has blasted off from the Baikonur Space Station in Kazakhstan, a spokesman from the space industry Roscosmos said on Friday.
"The Proton-M rocket blasted off on schedule. The separation of the carrier rocket from the satellite is scheduled for 8:23 a.m. Moscow time [04:23 GMT]," he said.
The communications satellite AsiaSat-7 was developed by the U.S. company Space Systems/Loral and and will service countries from Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean region.