Russia has launched the fourth Blagovest communications satellite for the country’s armed forces aboard a Proton-M rocket.
The Proton-M rocket carrying the Blagovest No. 14L was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 21:56 UTC on Monday, August 5. Following a successful launch, Russia officials confirmed the satellite was deployed from the Briz-M upper stage into its designated geostationary orbit approximately nine hours after liftoff.
“The heavy lift Proton-M carrier rocket, which was launched from the Baikonur space center at 00:56 Moscow Time today, August 6, successfully delivered the Defense Ministry’s spacecraft into the designated orbit as scheduled,” said a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson.
Following a successful deployment, the Defense Ministry acquired stable telemetry from the satellite, which has been designated Kosmos-2539.
Blagovest No. 14L is the fourth and final addition to a constellation of geostationary communications satellites that provide high-speed internet and other services. The first of the Blagovest was launched in August 2017 and the last just months ago in December 2018. The new satellite is expected to remain operational for 15 years.
