spacetoday.net: Proton launches European communications satellite

Posted: Mon, Dec 29, 2014, 8:55 AM ET (1355 GMT)
Proton M launch of Astra 2G (Roscosmos)

A Proton rocket successfully launched a commercial communications satellite for a European company on Sunday. The Proton M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 4:37 pm EST Saturday (2137 GMT Saturday, 3:37 am local time Sunday) and deployed the Astra 2G satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit a little more than nine hours later. Astra 2G is a Eurostar E3000 model satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space for SES. Weighing about 6,000 kilograms at launch, the satellite will operate from 28.2-28.5 degrees east, providing Ku- and Ka-band communications services. The satellite also carries a military communications payload for the government of Luxembourg. The launch was the eighth and final Proton launch in 2014, but only the third commercial Proton mission by International Launch Services.