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Russian Proton-M carrier rocket set to orbit Chinese satellite

RIA Novosti

11/08/200909:15

MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Proton-M rocket with a Chinese telecommunications satellite will be launched on Tuesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian Federal Space 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 is scheduled for 23:47 Moscow time [19:47 GMT]," the agency said.

ILS, owned by the Khrunichev Center, RSC Energia, and U.S. firm Space Transport Inc., provides spacecraft launch services on board Proton-M heavy carrier rockets.

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.

AsiaSat 5 will carry 26 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders, and has a service life of 15 years, replacing Asiasat 2 at the orbital location of 100.5 degrees east.

The satellite will offer an enhanced pan-Asian C-band footprint that covers more than 53 countries spanning from Russia to New Zealand and from Japan to the Middle East and parts of Africa.