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 statement said.
The Proton-M is the largest Russian carrier rocket and has been used since 1965. But it grounded Proton launches in June last year after a series of embarrassing setbacks.
Echostar-21 will provide telecommunications services in Europe and is set to be put into orbit at 1258 GMT, Roscosmos said.
India launches GSLV in heavy lift configuation
India's most powerful homegrown rocket was launched Monday, marking another milestone for its indigenous space programme that one day hopes to put a man into orbit. The 43-metre (140-foot) rocket lifted off just before 5:30 pm (1200 GMT) from the southern island of Sriharikota, one of two sites used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to launch satellites … read more
