A Proton-M carrier rocket with the YahSat 1B telecommunications satellite on board has been launched from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, Russia’s Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said.
“The launch took place at the set time,” a Roscosmos spokesman said. “The separation of the satellite from the Briz-M upper stage is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Moscow time [07:30 GMT].”
The launch, which occurred at 02:18 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday (22:18 GMT Monday), had been approved by a special government commission on Monday.
The YahSat-1B satellite was built by Astrium/Thales Alenia Space consortium for the Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (United Arab Emerites).
The 6-ton satellite carries Ka-band transponders for commercial and military communications.
