The Russian Satellite Communications Co. said the Russian Express-AM2 was successfully launched March 29 on a Proton-K rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:31 p.m. GMT. In-orbit testing of the spacecraft is expected to run through the beginning of July.

Express-AM2 is the fourth of five new-generation Express-AM satellites to be produced and launched by the end of this year. The satellite carries 16 C-band transponders, 12 Ku- band transponders and 1 L-band transponder. It has an in-orbit life of 12 years and covers Russia, the western and eastern parts of China, Korea, Northern India, Bangladesh, Butan, Nepal and the northern part of Indochina.

“The new Express-AM2 satellite will be put into the strategically important orbital [slot of] 80 degrees East over the West Siberian plain,” said RSCC Acting Director General Yuri Izmailov in a prepared statement. “It will enable RSCC to implement its strategy aimed at providing the users in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States with modern and cost-effective communications and broadcasting services.”