Moscow:A Russian Proton-M rocket Tuesday sent a US telecommunications satellite, the Inmarsat-4 F3, into Earth orbit, a spokesman for a Moscow-based producer of space launch systems said.

The rocket was launched from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan at 2.43 a.m., said Alexander Bobrenyov, spokesman for the Khrunichev state research and production space centre.

According to the federal space agency Roskosmos, "within eight hours five mid-course burns will bring the orbital unit from the suborbital trajectory to a final transfer orbit, where the satellite will separate", Itar-Tass news agency reported.

The US satellite will reach an altitude of about 36,000 km following five switches of the Briz-M engine, he said.

Inmarsat-4 satellites are among the largest and most sophisticated commercial communication satellites, capable of delivering advanced voice and broadband data communications to mobile users.

 

Source : IANS