Russian satellites reach orbit

Moscow: Two satellites launched Saturday have successfully reached orbit, Russia`s space agency Roscosmos said.

"The separation of the Yamal-300K from the Briz-M booster went smoothly, and to schedule," a Roscosmos spokesman told RIA Novosti Saturday, adding that the same was true of the Luch 5B relay satellite. The Russian Proton-M launch vehicle carrying Yamal-300K telecoms satellite and Luch 5B relay satellite lifted off earlier Saturday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. The satellites were built by Russia`s Reshetnev space company. The Yamal-300K will expand the cluster of Yamal class telecoms satellites operated by Gazprom Space Systems (GSS), a telecommunications arm of Russia`s energy giant Gazprom. The dual-purpose geostationary Luch 5B satellite has been primarily designed to relay live telemetry and other data from low-orbiting space vehicles as they fly beyond the communication range of ground control stations. It is also capable of tracking low-flying space objects along their trajectories thanks to its two high-precision antennas. IANS