Final Military Satellite Launch From Baikonur Rescheduled for July – Source

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The launch of the final military telecommunications satellite of Russia’s Blagovest constellation from the Baikonur Cosmodrome has been put off from May to July, a source in the space industry told Sputnik.

"It was decided to postpone the launch of Blagovest from 23 May to July. There are no issues with the satellite, it is ready to be sent to Baikonur", a source said.

In March, a source told Sputnik that the launch of the fourth and last satellite for the Russian Defence Ministry was set to take place in mid-May.

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In mid-February, Deputy Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Igor Morozov, said that the final launch from Baikonur for the Defence Ministry will be held in 2019 after which all the launches for the military would be carried out from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

The Blagovest communications satellites will be spread out evenly to provide seamless global coverage. They are equipped with modern Ka and Q-band transponders and support high-speed Internet, telephony and other broadcasting services.

The Russian Defence Ministry has successfully deployed three satellites to the geostationary orbit since 2017. The system is expected to operate for 15 years.

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