Proton Rocket Transported to Russian Spaceport Ahead of Satellite Launch

A Proton-M rocket and a Briz-M booster have arrived at the Russian spaceport in Kazakhstan, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The agency is preparing to launch EchoStar XXI, a communications satellite, late December. It is designed to provide mobile services to the European Union.

"Proton-M and Briz-M … were transported on Sunday from the Khrunichev Center to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Proton-M rocket is scheduled to lift off with EchoStar XXI on December 22, 2016," the agency said in a statement.

The satellite was produced by California-based spacecraft maker SSL. It was due to be put into orbit in the first months of the year but the launch was pushed back several times, most recently to November 23.