Russian carrier rocket puts U.S. satellite into orbit November 21, 2012 - 11:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s Proton-M carrier rocket put the U.S. EchoStar-16 telecommunications satellite into the designated orbit on Wednesday, Nov 21, a Roscosmos spokesman said, according to RIA Novosti. “The spacecraft separated from the Briz-M launch vehicle at 7:43am Moscow time [3:43 GMT],” he said. The rocket blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 10:31pm Moscow time (18:31 GMT). Equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders, EchoStar-16 was designed by Space Systems/Loral to provide expanded services to more than 14 million direct-to-home television subscribers in the United States. It has a life span of 15 years. It is the 10th Proton launch this year and the 76th since commercial operations began in 1996. The launch vehicle has been used to orbit five EchoStar payloads.   Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty  Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty.Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza.Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations.Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |
