In the beginning of November, the Russian space agency announced that Russia successfully launched a Proton-M carrier rocket , and put an SES Astra 1M satellite into orbit. The Astra satellite fleet delivers high quality broadcasting to more than 117 European houses. As in the previous launches, the rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
International Launch Services Inc (ILS) and SES Satellite Leasing have signed a contract to launch five telecommunications satellites on board Proton-M carrier rockets by the end of 2013. The new satellite will expand the SES satellite group currently consisting of 36 satellites.
SES is a global provider of satellite telecommunication services, based in Luxemburg and operating mainly through SES Astra in Europe, SES Americom in North America and SES New Skies in Africa, South America, the Middle East and some regions of Asia. ILS is a US-Russian joint venture consisting of Space Transport Inc., a privately owned British Virgin Islands corporation, the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and RSC Energia of Moscow. The joint venture has exclusive rights for commercial sales and mission management of satellite launches on Russia’s Proton carrier rockets.