Russia’s most powerful communications satellite Yamal-601 successfully reached the target orbit in the early hours of Friday after separating from the booster of the Proton-M heavy class carrier rocket, Gazprom Space Systems, which is operating the satellite, told Sputnik.
“The spacecraft has separated from the Briz-M booster and has been handed over to the operator,” the operating company said.
The separation took place as planned, around nine hours after the liftoff, according to Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos.
The Proton-M carrier rocket took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 17:42 GMT on Thursday, which became Russia’s first launch of this type of carrier rocket in 2019.
Yamal-601 is expected to have a 15-year lifespan; it will help provide broadcast and communications services, as well as the Internet access, as part of the Yamal satellite constellation, operated by Gazprom Space Systems. The satellite was built by Franco-Italian manufacturer Thales Alenia Space.
Russia’s most powerful communications satellite Yamal-601 reaches Target Orbit – Operator
