Proton rocket successfully returns to flight after year-long grounding

An EchoStar communications satellite designed to link Europeans with voice and broadband data services rode into orbit on top of a Russian Proton rocket Thursday, deploying into an on-target orbit after nine hours of maneuvers by the launcher’s Breeze M upper stage. The 191-foot-tall (58-meter) Proton/Breeze M rocket took off at 0345:47 GMT Thursday (11:45:47 p.m. EDT Wednesday) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, heading to the east from the historic Central Asia launch base into partly sunny skies. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Jun 9)