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Russia to launch military satellite in spring

The first Blagovest satellite was launched from the Baikonur spaceport on August 17, 2017

© Sergei Savostianov/TASS

MOSCOW, February 7. /TASS/. The Russian military satellite Blagovest is planned for launch from the Baikonur spaceport in April this year, CEO of Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems (the satellite’s developer) Nikolai Testoyedov told TASS on Wednesday.

"The customer has drawn up a schedule of launches and we are following it. The satellite is ready from December for its delivery. We are preparing for the launch in April," the chief executive said.

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Nine foreign satellites put into orbit after launch from Vostochny spaceport

The date of the satellite’s delivery to the Baikonur space center is being specified and it has to be approved by the government commission, he added.

The launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket with the second Blagovest military communications satellite was earlier planned for December 25 and was later rescheduled for mid-February 2018 over problems with one of the satellite’s devices.

The first Blagovest satellite was launched from the Baikonur spaceport on August 17, 2017. Russia’s Space Forces assigned the index number Kosmos-2520 to the satellite.

Russia’s Defense Ministry plans to deploy a grouping of four Blagovest satellites by 2020. The third and the fourth satellites will be ready for their delivery into orbit in 2018. The satellites are designed to provide high-speed access to the Internet, transmit data and offer telephone and video conference communications using the advanced Ka-and Ku-band frequencies.

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