Turkish telecommunications satellite lifts off from Baikonur

A Russian Proton rocket boosted a Turkish telecommunications satellite into space Friday after a blazing liftoff from Kazakhstan, but it was expected to take more than nine hours to inject the 5.4-ton broadcasting craft into an orbit ranging more than 20,000 miles above Earth. The Turksat 4B satellite — encapsulated in the nose cone of the 19-story Proton booster — blasted off at 2040:11 GMT (4:40:11 p.m. EDT) Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, riding a column of orange rocket exhaust through low clouds hanging above the arid space center. After pitching on a northeast trajectory from Baikonur, the Proton rocketed through the speed of sound and shed its six-engine first stage in the first two minutes of the flight. More

(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 17)