Russia’s Proton-M rocket puts Mexican satellite into orbitMarch 27, 2013 - 11:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket has successfully put a Mexican telecommunications satellite into orbit, a spokesperson for the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday, March 27, according to RIA Novosti. The Proton-M carrying the Satmex-8 satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 23:06 Moscow time [19:06 GMT] on Tuesday, Roscosmos said. “The separation of the spacecraft from the Briz-M booster has taken place, and the spacecraft has been handed over to the management of the client,” the Roscosmos spokesperson said. The launch of the Satmex-8 satellite was initially scheduled for December 27 last year, but was postponed following problems launching the Yamal-402 satellite, caused by a glitch in Proton-M’s Briz-M booster. Satmex-8, operated by the Mexican company Satellites Mexicanos S.A. de C.V. (Satmex), is a high-power C and Ku-band satellite that replaces Satmex-5 and will provide Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) in both North and South America. The new satellite, which has a service life of 15 years, will augment the current Satmex fleet in providing services such as broadband, voice and data transmission and video broadcasting. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |