European telecoms satellite put in orbit

A European telecommunications satellite was successfully placed in orbit Saturday after being lifted into space aboard a Russian Proton-M rocket, the Ria-Novosti cited a Russian space agency official as saying. "The satellite detached from the launcher as planned" and is now under the control of Eutelsat, the Roskosmos official was quoted as saying. The Proton-M blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Friday with the Eutelsat W2A satellite is designed to transmit multimedia services, including television, to mobile phones and receivers fitted in vehicles. More

(Source: AFP - Apr 4)