MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) - A Proton-M...

The rocket lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan late on Tuesday.

"The satellite has been put into a designated orbit and control over the spacecraft has been transferred to the client," the agency said.

Russian-U.S. joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) and Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (AsiaSat) signed a contract in February for the launch of the AsiaSat 5 satellite.

ILS, owned by the Khrunichev Center, RSC Energia, and U.S. firm Space Transport Inc., provides spacecraft launch services on board Proton-M heavy carrier rockets.

The launch of the AsiaSat 5 satellite will be the sixth involving a Proton-M carrier rocket in 2009 and the 347th Proton launch overall.

AsiaSat 5 will carry 26 C-band and 14 Ku-band transponders, and has a service life of 15 years, replacing Asiasat 2 at the orbital location of 100.5 degrees east.

The satellite will offer an enhanced pan-Asian C-band footprint

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