Russia launches rocket carrying US satellite

MOSCOW: Russia launched a rocket carrying a US communications satellite into space Sunday, the rocket's manufacturer said.

Scheduled for 8:29 pm (1729 GMT), the Proton-M's launching from Moscow's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan "took place as anticipated", the Khrunichev centre said in a statement.

The American LightSquared telecommunications satellite is to be placed into orbit to cover the United States, the Carribean and Hawaii.

The launching was the 10th of a Proton rocket since the beginning of the year.