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Proton-M carrier rocket with two sats to be launched from Baikonur

The launch of Proton-M equipped with the Briz-M upper stage is scheduled for 15:17 Moscow time

MOSCOW, December 11 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s carrier rocket Proton-M with the Luch-5A data relay satellite and Israel’s communication satellite AMOS-5 will be launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome on Sunday.

“The launch of Proton-M equipped with the Briz-M upper stage is scheduled for 15:17 Moscow time,” spokesman for the Khrunichev state space research and production centre, Alexander Bobrenev, told Itar-Tass.

The Luch-5A data relay satellite was designed by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems. It weighs 950 kilograms. The satellite is designed to relay information from low-flying space objects so as to track them along their trajectories.

The AMOS-5 satellite was created by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems for Israel’s satellite communication operator Spacecom. It will be positioned into a geostationary orbit to ensure coverage of the whole Africa.

“The upcoming launch will be the ninth for the Proton-M carrier rocket in 2011 and the 372d in its flight history,” the spokesman said. “For Proton this will be the third launch, when it will take two spaceships into a geostationary orbit.”