Moscow: Russia Sunday launched two telecommunications satellites --Luch-5A and Amos-5 -- from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan. A Proton-M carrier rocket with two telecommunications satellites onboard blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan, said a spokesman of Russia`s space agency Roscosmos.
The separation of Russia`s Luch-5A spacecraft is scheduled for 00:11 Monday (Moscow time), while Israel`s Amos-5 satellite will separate at 00:52 (Moscow time), the spokesman said.
The Luch-5A satellite will provide communications with the Russian segment of the International Space Station. Israel`s AMOS-5 will join the satellite grouping of AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 to provide various satellite services to customers in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.
Equipped with 18 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders, AMOS-5 satellite has a life span of 15 years.
IANS