Posted: Tue, Sep 15, 2015, 11:28 PM ET (0328 GMT)
A Proton rocket successfully launched a Russian communications satellite on Tuesday. The Proton M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:00 pm EDT Monday (1900 GMT Monday, 1:00 am local time Tuesday) and released the Express-AM8 satellite into its planned orbit six and a half hours later. The spacecraft was built for the Russian Satellite Communications Company by ISS Reshetnev in cooperation with Thales Alenia Space. The 2,100-kilogram satellite will provide communications services for parts of Russia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America at C-, Ku-, and L-bands from its final location at 14 degrees west in GEO.

Related Links:

•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  SpaceFlight Insider article
•  TASS article
•  Sputnik International article
•  ILS press release