MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian...

The Proton-M rocket will take into space the Hot Bird 8, a U.S. telecommunications satellite, at 1.48 a.m. Moscow time [9.48 p.m. GMT, Friday] under the terms of a commercial program run by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the manufacturer of the rocket and the Briz-M booster.

"The satellite is designed to provide Internet and digital telecommunications services for Europe and North Africa," the source said.

The spacecraft weighing 4.8 metric tons was produced by the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, the world's second largest aerospace company, for Eutelsat, Europe's leading satellite operator