Russian space agency confirms planned launch of Proton-M with two Express satellites

Moscow, Jul 26: Russia’s Roscosmos space agency has confirmed that the Proton-M carrier rocket with telecommunications satellites Express-80 and Express-103 will take off shortly after midnight on July 30.

“Preparations for the launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket with the Briz-M upper stage and the Russian telecommunications spacecraft Express-103 and Express-80 have been completed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch is scheduled for July 30, 2020 at 00:27:42 Moscow time [21:27:42 GMT on July 29],” Roscosmos said in a statement.

The Proton-M carrier rocket, which had its launch with Express-80 and Express-103 telecommunications satellites postponed over technical drawbacks, was sent to the Baikonur spaceport in June, after repairs were completed.

In March, Russian space agency Roscosmos discovered faulty components (produced in 2015-2016) in three Proton-M carrier rockets.

On May 30, Roscosmos said that the technical problems in the Proton rocket were fixed. A space industry source told Sputnik in May that the launch of Proton-M with two Express satellites was planned for July 30.

(AGENCIES)