An Intelsat satellite on the way to an orbit over the Indian Ocean will link Europe, Africa and Asia with video and voice services and relay UHF communications for U.S. and Australian defense forces deployed in Afghanistan.

Equipped with 48 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, the Intelsat 22 satellite will boost Intelsat's coverage for government, media and network customers. The communications payload is tailored for video, voice and data services.

Intelsat says airliners and ships will use broadband connectivity routed through the new satellite, which will enter service in May.

It also carries a UHF communications payload for the Australian Defence Force, which will provide the U.S. Navy about one-half of the 18-channel unit's capacity.

Read our full story.

Check out video and photos of Sunday's launch.

MISSION SUCCESS. International Launch Services and Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, report a successful conclusion to the launch of the Intelsat 22 satellite.

The 6.9-ton spacecraft was released from the Breeze M upper stage on time at 0340 GMT (11:40 p.m. EDT), wrapping up a 15-hour, 30-minute ascent after blasting off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 1210 GMT (8:10 a.m. EDT) Sunday.

A Proton rocket accelerated the Breeze M stage and Intelsat 22 into a suborbital trajectory, then five burns of the upper stage engine were planned to inject the payload into a supersynchronous transfer orbit stretching more than 40,000 miles above Earth at its highest point.

The targeted perigee was 2,355 miles and the planned orbital inclination was 28.5 degrees. In a statement on its website, Roscosmos said Intelsat 22 separated in its target orbit.

It was the longest flight of a Breeze M upper stage to date, and it was the first commercial flight of the Proton/Breeze M vehicle into a supersynchronous-type orbit, affording 200 kilograms, or about 440 pounds, of extra lift capacity over standard flight profiles.

Built by Boeing Co., Intelsat 22 will provide video, voice and data services over a swath of Earth from Europe and Africa to the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and Asia.

The satellite also carries a hosted UHF communications payload for the Australian Defence Force.

Five apogee maneuevers and three perigee burns of Intelsat 22's on-board engine will circularize the craft's orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles. Intelsat 22's ultimate operational position will be over the equator at 72 degrees east longitude.

Alexander Horwitz, an Intelsat spokesperson, said Intelsat 22 will reach geosynchronous orbit by mid-April and enter service in May.

International Launch Services reports the third and fourth burns of the Breeze M upper stage were successfully accomplished a few hours ago. The stage also jettisoned an auxiliary propellant tank as planned.

The Breeze M's fifth burn at 0325 GMT (11:25 p.m. EDT) will raise the low point of its orbit and reduce its inclination from 50.5 degrees to 28.5 degrees.

Deployment of the Intelsat 22 satellite is set for 0340 GMT (11:40 p.m. EDT) to conclude the launch.

The second burn of the Breeze M upper stage has been accomplished as planned, and the engine ignited for a third time on schedule before the rocket passed out of range of communications stations.

The planned five-hour communications blackout will end several hours before the Breeze M fires for the final time before releasing Intelsat 22.

During the blackout, the schedule calls for the rocket to shut down, jettison an auxiliary propellant tank, and ignite for a fourth burn. Confirmation of those events is expected once ground stations re-establish contact with the Breeze M.

The start of the Breeze M's fifth burn is expected at 0325 GMT Monday (11:25 p.m. EDT Sunday).

T+plus 18 minutes. The first burn of the Breeze M upper stage has ended successfully, placing the rocket and the payload in a parking orbit. Preflight plans called for the Breeze M to now be in a 107-mile-high orbit.

The next ignition of the Breeze M is scheduled for approximately 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT) for a burn lasting 19 minutes, 34 seconds.

T+plus 14 minutes. The Breeze M upper stage is now firing for the first of five burns to place Intelsat 22 in its targeted transfer orbit.

T+plus 13 minutes. Officials confirm successful shutdown of the Proton's third stage and separation of the Breeze M upper stage.

T+plus 9 minutes. The Proton third stage should be nearing the end of its burn to place the Breeze M upper stage and Intelsat 22 in a suborbital trajectory. Beginning at T+plus 11 minutes, the Breeze M stage will fire for more than 4 minutes to reach a low-altitude parking orbit.

T+plus 6 minutes. Proton's second stage has separated, and the third stage RD-0213 engine has begun its burn. The rocket's payload fairing has also been released now that the launcher is in the upper atmosphere.

T+plus 2 minutes, 15 seconds. The Proton's first stage has shut down and jettisoned, and the second stage engines are firing with a half-million pounds of thrust.

T+plus 70 seconds. The Proton rocket has passed the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

Liftoff of the Proton rocket with Intelsat 22, a communications satellite to link Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia!

T-minus 60 seconds.

T-minus 2 minutes. The countdown is being run by a master computer sequencer.

T-minus 4 minutes. The exact launch time is 1210:32 GMT (8:10:32 a.m. EDT). It will be 6:10 p.m. local time at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

T-minus 8 minutes. The Proton launcher on the pad weighs about 1.5 million pounds, and it will be powered into the sky by six first stage RD-276 engines producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust.

The Intelsat 22 satellite weighs 13,776 pounds at liftoff.

With 15 minutes left in the countdown, the Intelsat 22 satellite is on internal power and all systems are go for launch. We are now streaming live video from Baikonur.

Fueling of the Proton rocket has been completed with less than two hours left until launch.

The Russian State Commission has met and approved final launch day preparations for today's blastoff of a Proton rocket. Launch day activities include final payload preparations, fueling of the Proton's three core stages with storable propellant, and technical checks of the rocket and Intelsat 22 satellite.

The rocket's Breeze M upper stage was loaded with propellant a few days ago.

Here's a look at some statistics on today's mission. This will be the:

• 374th Proton rocket launch since 1965
• 71st International Launch Services Proton
• 54th Proton M using a Breeze M upper stage since 2001
• 2nd Proton of 2012
• 15th Boeing-built satellite on ILS Proton
• 10th Intelsat satellite launch on ILS Proton

An Intelsat communications satellite wrapped inside the nose of a Russian Proton rocket is set for launch Sunday, starting a mission to deliver fresh video, network and voice services to Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The 6.9-ton Intelsat 22 spacecraft, manufactured by Boeing Co., also carries a UHF communications payload for the Australian Defence Force. Part of the UHF bandwidth will be shared with the U.S. military.

Sunday's launch will also set records for the Proton launcher's Breeze M upper stage, which will tug Intelsat 22 through space for more than 15 hours, longer than any flight in the rocket's history.

According to International Launch Services, the U.S.-based firm in charge of commercial Proton sales, the extended flight of the rocket's Breeze M stage will add 200 kilograms, or about 440 pounds, to the launcher's total lift capacity.

The Breeze M can accomplish up to eight burns per flight, and its lifetime is limited to an on-board 24-hour battery supply.

The Proton and Breeze M are built by Khrunichev, the owner of International Launch Services.

Liftoff is set for 1210 GMT (8:10 a.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where it will be 6:10 p.m. local time.

The Proton's six first stage engines, collectively generating more than 2 million pounds of thrust, will propel the 191-foot-tall rocket off the ground. After burning for 2 minutes, the first stage will fall away and the Proton's second stage will ignite.

The third stage will take over at T+plus 5 minutes, 27 seconds, followed 20 seconds later by the jettison of the Proton's payload fairing.

The hydrazine-fueled Breeze M stage will ignite for its first burn at T+plus 11 minutes, 16 seconds to place the rocket and Intelsat 22 payload in a parking orbit.

Three more Breeze M firings are planned before the flight's 5-hour mark to raise its altitude and move its orbit closer to the equator.

A fifth Breeze M burn will begin at T+5 hours, 15 minutes to place Intelsat 22 in a highly elliptical orbit stretching 65,000 kilometers, or 40,389 miles, above Earth.

The target perigee, or low point, of the orbit is 3,791 kilometers, or 2,355 miles, with a planned inclination of 28.5 degrees.

Separation of Intelsat 22 is expected at 0340 GMT Monday (11:40 p.m. EDT Sunday).

Previous Proton/Breeze M missions lasted less than 10 hours before deploying their payloads in orbits with high points, or apogees, of about 22,000 miles. Some lighter satellites were placed closer to their final orbital positions in geostationary orbit over the equator, where a belt of spacecraft are located to provide communications services.

Satellites in geostationary orbit have speeds that match the rate of Earth's rotation, making them appear to hover above a fixed point on the planet.

The 40,000-mile-high apogee targeted by the Proton/Breeze M optimizes the use of Intelsat 22's on-board propellant needed to circularize the craft's orbit and reach its final operational position.

A Proton rocket was towed to the launch pad in Kazakhstan on Friday and pointed skyward, setting the stage for liftoff Sunday with an Intelsat communications satellite to cover Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The Intelsat 22 satellite will launch at 1210 GMT (8:10 a.m. EDT) Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Check out video and photos from Friday morning's rollout at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.