Proton Rocket Successfully Launches Satmex-8 into Orbit

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan), March 27 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket has successfully put a Mexican telecommunications satellite into orbit, a spokesperson for the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday.

The Proton-M carrying the Satmex-8 satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 23:06 Moscow time [19:06 GMT] on Tuesday, Roscosmos said.

“The separation of the spacecraft from the Briz-M booster has taken place, and the spacecraft has been handed over to the management of the client,” the Roscosmos spokesperson said.

The launch of the Satmex-8 satellite was initially scheduled for December 27 last year, but was postponed following problems launching the Yamal-402 satellite, caused by a glitch in Proton-M’s Briz-M booster.

Satmex-8, operated by the Mexican company Satellites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (Satmex), is a high-power C and Ku-band satellite that replaces Satmex-5 and will provide Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) in both North and South America.

The new satellite, which has a service life of 15 years, will augment the current Satmex fleet in providing services such as broadband, voice and data transmission and video broadcasting.