A Russian Proton rocket with a US telecom satellite Echostar-21 was successfully launched early Thursday from the Baikonur spaceport in southern Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
This is the first launch of a Proton since June 2016 when it suffered an engine glitch, prompting an audit that grounded the rocket for a year.
"The launch took place as scheduled," a Roscosmos official told Sputnik.
The Briz-M propellant stage with a Echostar-21 satellite is set to separate at 6:55 a.m. Moscow time [3:55GMT], the spacecraft is expected to separate from the rocket stage at 15:58 Moscow time."
The Proton-M is the largest carrier rocket in Russia's fleet of space launch vehicles.
The rocket has lifted dozens of Russian and foreign satellites into orbit since it was first commissioned into service in 2001.
Russian rocket returns to service with launch of US satellite
Russia on Thursday sent into space a Proton rocket carrying a US telecom satellite, Echostar-21, the first launch in a year after an engine glitch sparked a probe into manufacturing flaws.
"The Proton-M was successfully launched at 6:45 am (0345 GMT)," from the Baikonur cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
"All the phases went off as scheduled," a … read more
