Russia's Proton-M Rocket Carrying Meteorological Satellite Launched Into Orbit: Roscosmos

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Proton-M rocket carrying the fourth Elektro–L meteorological satellite was successfully launched into orbit, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.

The launch took place at 09:12 GMT from the Russian-leased Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan. Upon reaching the low Earth orbit, the upper stage of the Proton-M launch vehicle, Blok DM, will deliver the satellite to an orbit with an altitude of 35,400 kilometers (21,996 miles).

After separation of the upper stage, the satellite will have to independently arrive at a geostationary orbit with an altitude of 35,800 kilometers.

This is Russia’s first space launch in 2023, with another three scheduled for the coming months. In particular, Roscosmos will send its Soyuz MS-23 mission and the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket to the International Space Station in February, as well as launch another Proton rocket in March.

The first Electro–L satellite was launched in 2011 and stopped functioning in 2016, falling short of its design life of 10 years. The second satellite was put into orbit in 2015, followed by the third in 2019 — both satellites are functioning as intended. The four Electro–L satellites will be replaced by three Electro–M satellites after 2025.