ViaSat 1 soars into space

A sophisticated broadband satellite to provide direct-to-home Internet connections from space for customers across the U.S. and Canada was successfully launched by Russia's commercial Proton heavy-lifting rocket Wednesday. Blastoff to begin the 9-hour ascent occurred at 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the launch.

Credit: Roscosmos and Khrunichev

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