Posted: Sat, May 16, 2009, 10:14 AM ET (1414 GMT)
A Russian Proton rocket successfully launched a commercial communications satellite early Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:57 pm EDT Friday (0057 GMT Saturday) and released the IndoStar II/ProtoStar II satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit a little over nine hours later. The satellite is a Boeing 601 HP model owned by ProtoStar Ltd., a Bermuda-headquartered company, but will be used by Indonesian satellite TV company Indovision to replace the Chakarawarta 1 satellite at 107.7 degrees east in GEO, hence the satellite's dual name. The spacecraft weighed approximately 4,000 kilograms at launch and carries 27 Ku-band and 13 S-band transponders. The launch was the second commercial Proton mission this year.

Related Links:

•  Itar-Tass article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  ILS press release