MOSCOW, November 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan carrying a military satellite early Tuesday, a spokesman for Russia’s aerospace defense troops said.
The Raduga-1M satellite was expected to reach its orbit about nine hours after liftoff, Col. Dmitry Zenin said.
Raduga-1M, codenamed Globus-1M, is a third-generation military communications satellite designed to ensure stable communications with mobile stations, including hard-to-reach mountainous regions.
Proton rockets are to take two telecommunications satellites into orbit this year – the Inmarsat-5 F1 and Express-AM5. The launches are due to take place on December 8 and December 26, respectively.
Proton Carrier Rocket