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Proton-M carrying commercial satellites delivered to Baikonur’s launch pad

Following the rocket erection, the service tower was moved to the vehicle, and Roscosmos enterprises' specialists started working according to the schedule of the first launch day

© Sergei Kazak/TASS

MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. The Proton-M carrier rocket with the Briz-M booster carrying the European communication satellite Eutelsat 5 West B and the US technological spacecraft Mission Extension Vehicle-1 has been delivered to the launch complex of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement on Saturday.

"On October 5, according to the working schedule the space rocket was transported from the technological fueling pad to the pad No.200 launch complex of the cosmodrome," the statement said.

Following the rocket erection, the service tower was moved to the vehicle, and Roscosmos enterprises' specialists started working according to the schedule of the first launch day.

Initially the launch of the rocket with commercial satellites was scheduled for September 30, though it was postponed due to additional tests of the control system for the upper stage. Later a source in the space rocket industry explained to TASS that the launch had been postponed because the US satellite was not attached correctly to the upper stage.

Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin confirmed to reporters that the launch had been postponed due to the problem related to the booster control system. On September 27, the state commission decided to postpone the launch for October 9 at 1:17 pm Moscow time.

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