Posted: Mon, Dec 29, 2003, 11:13 AM ET (1613 GMT)
A Proton rocket launched a Russian communications satellite early Monday. The Proton K lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6 pm EST Sunday (2300 GMT Sunday, 4 am Monday local time) and placed into geosynchronous orbit the Express AM-22 satellite. The spacecraft, built by Russian firm NPO PM and carrying a communications payload provided by Alcatel, has 24 Ku-band transponders. It will provide communications services from 53 degrees east longitude. The launch is the first of five carrying a new series of Express communications satellites that will be used by the Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) for domestic communications. While a Russian source billed the launch as the last of 2003, there is at least one more launch planned this year: a Chinese launch of a Sino-European science satellite, scheduled for early Tuesday.

Related Links:

•  Itar-Tass article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  AP article (via SPACE.com)