A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the ExoMars 2016 spacecraft blasts off from the launch pad at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome on March 14, 2016. (AFP FILE PHOTO)
MOSCOW, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Russia has successfully put into orbit its second military communication satellite of the Blagovest series, the builder of the satellite said Thursday.
"The launch of the Proton-M rocket with the telecommunication satellite Blagovest No. 12 aboard took place at the Baikonur cosmodrome at 1:12 a.m. Moscow time on Thursday (2212 GMT on Wednesday)," Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev Company said in a statement.
"After nine hours and two minutes, the device, with the help of the 'Breeze-M' upper stage, was put into geostationary orbit," it added.
The statement said the satellite is designed for high-speed Internet access, data transmission, television and radio programs, telephone and video conferencing.
The first Blagovest ("Good news" in Russian) was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Aug. 17, 2017.
The Ministry of Defense plans to deploy a group of four Blagovest satellites by 2020, according to TASS news agency.