MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. A Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M booster, carrying Russia’s Express-80 and Express-103 telecom satellites, has been launched from Site No. 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The launch was broadcast on the Roscosmos State Space Agency’s website.

The Express-80 and Express-103 satellites, built for the Russian Satellite Communications Company, are based on the standardized Express-1000 medium-class platform developed by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company.

The satellites are designed to provide fixed and mobile communications, digital television and radio broadcasting services and high-speed Internet access, as well as to transmit on the territory of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the C-, Ku- and L-bands. The payload will include 38 (for the Express-80) and 37 (for the Express-103) basic transponders. The satellites will have an active service life of 15 years. The Russian Satellite Communications Company said earlier that the satellites were expected to be put into operation in January or February 2021.