A Proton rocket is set to lift off Friday with two Russian satellites - one to relay voice and data communications from the International Space Station and another to provide television and Internet services.
The 191-foot-tall rocket will launch at 2104 GMT (5:04 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The three-stage Proton and a Breeze M upper stage will place the Yamal 300K and Luch 5B spacecraft in a circular geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.
It will take nine-and-a-half hours to place the satellites in the correct orbit.
The 3,615-pound Yamal 300K satellite will provide television and Internet services over Russian territory for Gazprom Space Systems. Operating for Roscosmos - the Russian space agency - Luch 5B is designed for voice and data relay communications between the ground and orbiting satellites such as the International Space Station.
Both spacecraft were built by ISS Reshetnev of Russia.
Credit: Roscosmos
The Proton rocket rolled to Complex 81 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Oct. 30. Credit: Roscosmos
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