By PNA / RIA Novosti and U.S. News Agency / Asian

Russia has launched a Proton-M heavy carrier rocket with a U.S. telstar-14R telecommunications satellite from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said.

The rocket lifted off at 11.15 p.m. Moscow time (19:15 GMT) on Friday.

“The separation of the satellite from the Briz-M booster is expected at 08.28 a.m. Moscow time [04:28 GMT] on May 21, and at that point Russia will fulfill its part of the launch mission,” a Roscosmos spokesman said.

Telstar -14R is a commercial satellite produced by the U.S. Space Systems/Loral company for leading satellite operator Telesat. It carries 46 Ku-band fixed and switchable transponders.

The satellite will replace Telstar 14 satellite at its orbital location to provide broadband coverage for Brazil, continental United States, the Gulf of Mexico, the northern and southern Caribbean, the Central America, and the northern and central Atlantic.

The 5-ton satellite has a service life of at least 15 years.

Friday’s mission is the first for Proton-M this year and 364th overall for this class of Russian carrier rockets.

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