Russia to launch communications satellite in Jan. after delay

Russia will launch on Jan. 28 a Proton M carrier rocket to orbit a communication satellite after a four-month delay, the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Friday. The launch of an Express AM-33 communications satellite had originally been scheduled for September, but was delayed after Thales Alenia Space, a French firm, failed to supply the manufacturer, the Applied Mechanics research-and-production association based in the Moscow Region, with a payload module for the spacecraft, the RIA Novosti news agency reported. More

(Source: Xinhua - Dec 29)