A Russian Proton rocket carrying a Canadian telecommunications satellite blasted off from Russia's Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan early Friday, Russian space agency Roskosmos's officials said.
The blastoff was at 1:53 am (2153 GMT Thursday), with the Anik F1R satellite due to be placed in orbit at 5:16 pm, officials quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency said.
"The satellite with a unique 15-year service term will supply communications, television, mobile telephone connections and wireless Internet service," the Roskosmos representative said.
The Anik F1R would replace an earlier Anik F1 satellite, whose service term had run out.
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Historic Tower At Launch Complex 13 Toppled
Cape Canaveral AFS FL (SPX) Sep 09, 2005
What took years to build took seconds to knock down Aug. 6 when 171 pounds of strategically placed explosives were detonated, toppling the historic 179-foot mobile service tower at Launch Complex 13 here.
