Article Posted on : - Dec 12, 2011

Russian carrier rocket Proton-M. Photo: Khrunichev Space Centre.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russian space agency Roscosmos has launched two telecommunication satellites onboard a Proton-M carrier rocket which blasted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on Sunday.

According to a Ria Novosti report, the Luch-5A satellite will provide communications with the Russian segment of the International Space Station.

Israel's AMOS-5 build by Russia, will join the satellite grouping of AMOS-2 and AMOS-3 to provide various satellite services to customers in the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.

The telecommunications satellite, Amos-5 is equipped with 18 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders, and has a life span of 15 years, it added.

Russia and Israel have signed an agreement on cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space.