Firing into space from the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, a Russian Proton rocket guided a European television broadcast satellite into orbit Saturday. Check out photos of the Proton rocket’s nighttime liftoff with the Astra 2G satellite.
A Russian Proton rocket fired six main engines and soared into space from Kazakhstan on Saturday, deploying a commercial communications satellite owned by SES for a 15-year mission linking Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
An International Launch Services Proton rocket lifted off at 2137 GMT (4:37 p.m. EST) on Dec. 27 with the Astra 2G communications satellite, a new broadcasting platform owned by SES to beam television and broadband services to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
A commercial broadcast satellite will blast off from Kazakhstan on Saturday aboard a Proton rocket to transmit television, multimedia and broadband services across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
A Proton rocket launch set will be delayed until December after Russian technicians discovered a faulty gyroscope on the launcher’s Breeze M upper stage.
Nearly a year since its last mission in February, International Launch Services aims to resume commercial flights of Russia’s Proton rocket in late November with the Astra 2G communications satellite for SES.
