Proton rocket to launch two Ekspress satellites from Baikonur on December 6

The Proton-M carrier rocket will launch the Ekspress-AMU3 and Ekspress-AMU7 telecoms satellites into the orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 6, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Saturday.

The space corporation added that the satellites had been delivered to Baikonur on October 18.

"Now, preparation for their launch is underway. It [the launch] is scheduled for 15.20 Moscow time on December 6, 2021," Roscosmos said.

The satellites were earlier expected to be launched in 2020. CEO of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company Nikolai Testoyedov told TASS in September last year that the production of the satellites was being delayed over the late delivery of payloads for these space vehicles from Italy due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin announced in December last year that the launch of these satellites had been rescheduled for the end of 2021.

Quelle: TASS