spacetoday.net: Proton launches Canadian satellite

Posted: Fri, May 18, 2012, 8:19 AM ET (1219 GMT)
A Proton rocket launched a Canadian commercial communications satellite early Friday. The Proton-M rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 3:12 pm EDT Thursday (1912 GMT Thursday, 1:12 am local time Friday) carrying the Nimiq 6 satellite. The Proton's Breeze-M upper stage released the spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit a little over nine hours later. Nimiq 6 was built by Space Systems/Loral and weighed about 4,500 kilograms at launch, carrying 32 Ku-band transponders. Canadian satellite operator Telesat will use the satellite to provide direct-to-home TV services from 91.1 degrees west in GEO. The launch was the third worldwide in less than six hours, after launches of a Russian military satellite on a Soyuz-U and Japanese and Korean satellites on an H-2A. The launch was also the fifth Proton mission in just over three months.