Russian Proton rocket carries American satellite to orbit
10:46, 22 March 2010
MOSCOW. March 22. KAZINFORM The Russian space vehicle Proton-M launched from Baikonur on Saturday has successfully put the EchoStar-14 American communication satellite into the planned orbit; Kazinform refers to ITAR-TASS.
EchoStar-14 separated from the Briz-M booster at 06:37 Moscow time, a Roskosmos Federal Space Agency source reported.
The satellite will take its place at a longitude of 119 degrees west in its geostationary orbit.
EchoStar based on the satellite platform LS-1300 was made by the Space Systems/Loral company for the American satellite operator EchoStar. It is designed for television signal transmission to 14 million TV spectators of the DISH Network American TV company.
The satellite is expected to work in orbit for 15 years. It weighs 6,384 kilogrammes. It is equipped with 103 Ku-band transponders; Kazinform cites ITAR-TASS.
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