spacetoday.net: Proton launches Canadian satellite

Posted: Tue, Apr 16, 2013, 8:26 AM ET (1226 GMT)
Proton M launch of Anik G1 (ILS)

A Proton launch successfully launched a communications satellite for a Canadian company on Tuesday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2:36 pm EDT Monday (1836 GMT Monday, 12:36 am local time Tuesday) carrying the Anik G1 satellite. The rocket's Breeze M upper stage released the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit nine hours and 13 minutes after liftoff. The 4,905-kilogram satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral for Canadian satellite operator Telesat, carries 24 C-band, 28 Ku-band, and 3 X-band transponders. The satellite will operate form 107.3 degrees west in GEO, providing communications capacity for commercial and military users in the Americas and part of the Pacific. The launch was the second in less than a month for the Proton.