Russian carrier rocket puts Chinese satellite into orbit
MOSCOW. August 12. KAZINFORM A Proton-M rocket successfully orbited on Wednesday a Chinese telecommunications satellite, the Russian Federal Space Agency said, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan late on Tuesday.
"The satellite has been put into a designated orbit and control over the spacecraft has been transferred to the client," the agency said.
Russian-U.S. joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) and Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) signed a contract in February for the launch of the AsiaSat 5 satellite.
The launch of the AsiaSat 5 satellite will be the sixth involving a Proton-M carrier rocket in 2009 and the 347th Proton launch overall, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.