MOSCOW, January 16 (RIA Novosti) – A Turkish telecommunications satellite will be launched Febuary 15 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan aboard a Proton-M heavy-lift rocket, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
The satellite was delivered to Baikonur on a cargo airplane Thursday.
“Following customs procedures it will be sent to a testing facility, where it will be held in a cleanroom for further launch preparations,” Roscomos said on its website.
The TurkSat-4A, manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric of Japan, will undergo a series of self-diagnostics before being fuelled and integrated with the rocket under a contract with International Launch Services.
The 3,800-kilogram satellite will be stationed at a geosynchronous orbit to provide television broadcast and data services for customers in Turkey as well as in Europe, Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The launch will be the sixth following a three-month suspension of Proton launches after an explosion of one of the rockets shortly after liftoff in July.
