Posted: Sat, Feb 15, 2014, 9:58 AM ET (1458 GMT)
A Proton rocket successfully launched a Turkish communications satellite on Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:09 pm EST Friday (2109 GMT Friday, 3:09 am local time Saturday). The rocket's Breeze M upper stage released Turksat-4A into geosynchronous transfer orbit nine hours and 13 minutes after liftoff. Turksat-4A, a DS2000-model spacecraft built by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric, weighed 4,850 kilograms at launch. The satellite will be used by Turkish satellite operator Turksat-4A to provide communications services for portions of Europe, Asia, and Africa from 42 degrees east in GEO.
