On April 14 the Proton rocket was rolled out and erected on its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad. Photos: EUTELSAT

A communications satellite built to serve Europe, Africa and Asia was hauled into space on Monday by a Russian Proton rocket.

The Siberia Europe Satellite, or SESAT, departed Earth at 2106 GMT (5:06 p.m. EDT) aboard the three-stage Proton rocket topped with a Block DM upper stage.

The European Telecommunications Satellite Organization, or EUTELSAT, will operate the satellite to beam video and data communications to three continents for distance-learning, telemedicine and software transferring. The craft also will provide high-speed Internet connection.

EUTELSAT plans to offer SESAT on a "bandwidth-on-demand basis" so users can instantly access satellite capacity as needed and be charged for the exact amount used.

The 18-transponder Ku-band craft will fly 22,300 miles above Earth in geostationary orbit. Its parking slot is located at 36 degrees East over the equator. SESAT has two relay beams -- one stretched Widebeam for Europe, western Siberia, North Africa and the Middle East and a steerable Spotbeam for India.

Officials hope SESAT will enable EUTELSAT to open its first gateway to the Indian subcontinent to meet high bandwidth demands for Internet traffic between Europe and India.

SESAT was built by NPO-PM of Krasnoyarsk and carries a communications payload supplied by Alcatel Space. It should enter service in June after a full testing period.

Paris-based EUTELSAT has six more spacecraft currently under construction, all of which are slated for launches in the next two years, to expand the international consortium's orbiting satellite fleet and replace aging craft.

Next up is the planned May 15 launch of EUTELSAT's W4 communications satellite that will be co-located with SESAT. The first Lockheed Martin Atlas 3 rocket will be used to launch W4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

EUTELSAT currently has 15 communications satellites in service, making it Europe's leading spacecraft operator.