Russia launches Proton-M rocket with Mexican satellite

Russia launches Proton-M rocket with Mexican satellite

 Russia launched a Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a Mexican satellite on Thursday, according to TV reports.

Russian television showed the rocket with the QuetzSat-1 satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 10:32 p.m. Moscow time (1832 GMT).

According to the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, the rocket is scheduled to separate with the satellite at 7:45 a.m. Moscow time (0345 GMT) on Friday.

The launch of the Proton-M rocket was the second one since a series of setbacks of Russian rocket launch in August.

On Aug. 18, a Proton-M carrier rocket failed to deliver a communication satellite Express-AM4 to the orbit. After the failure, Russia decided to suspend launches of rocket Proton-M pending the outcome of a probe into the accident.

On Aug. 24, a Progress M-12M cargo ship also failed to reach the orbit due to a rocket malfunction. Later, Russia delayed the launch of next manned spaceship to the International Space Station (ISS).

On Sept. 21, Russia resumed the launch of the Proton-M rocket.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

English.news.cn   2011-09-30 05:21:51 FeedbackPrintRSS
MOSCOW, Sept. 29 (Xinhua)