"The launch is scheduled for today (Tuesday), and we hope everything will go well," said Alexander Vorobyev, spokesman for space agency Roskosmos.

The launch of the satellite by a Russian Proton rocket was supposed to take place Monday, but the Kazakh authorities blocked it accusing Moscow of failing to hand over the necessary paperwork, the spokesman said.

But he insisted Tuesday that Roskosmos had "acted in accordance with the orders of the Kazakh government."

"We were entitled to carry out the launch" Monday, Vorobyev added.

The Eutelsat-W7 will be launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

It is not the first time a row has erupted between Russia and Kazakhstan over Moscow's use of the Baikonur site.

The cosmodrome is on Kazakh territory but is leased to Russia to allow Moscow use of the base to launch rockets.

In recent years, Proton rockets, Russia's most powerful, have exploded in air several times over Kazakhstan, angering local authorities.

Kazakhstan temporarily blocked Proton launches in September 2007 after a rocket crashed several dozen kilometres away from President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The Eutelsat-W7 satellite, designed by French company Thales, will provide telecommunications services for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

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