Military satellite launched from Baikonur reaches target orbit
MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax-AVN) - The military satellite launched from the Baikonur Space Center early on Tuesday morning has separated from the Briz-M stage, a source from the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax-AVN.
"The satellite reached its target orbit and was passed to the control of the Aerospace Defense Forces," Aerospace Defense Forces spokesman Col. Dmitry Zenin told reporters.
The satellite was due to have a circular orbit at an altitude of approximately 36,000 kilometers.
Aerospace Defense Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Alexander Golovko personally controlled preparations for the launch of a Proton-M rocket carrying the military communication satellite at the Baikonur Space Center.
Open sources reported the launch of a Raduga-1M (military reporting name Globus-1M) military communication satellite. The product of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems based in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk territory, will transmit communication data in L, C, X and Ka bands. This is the third satellite of a modernized series.
The previous Proton-M mission was conducted in late October. The rocket placed the Sirius-FM6 U.S. radio satellite into orbit.
The launch of the military satellite was the eighth Proton mission in 2013 and 391st in the entire history of the launch vehicle. It was also the third Proton launch after the accident of July 2, when three Glonass-M satellites were lost.