A U.S. telecommunications satellite has been delivered to the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan ahead of a December 29th launch, Russia's Khrunichev center said last Friday. DIRECTV has a contract with the Russian-U.S. joint venture International Launch Services (ILS) to launch the DIRECTV-12 satellite on board a Proton-M carrier rocket to expand its existing satellite grouping.

The launch is expected to be the ninth Proton launch in 2009 and the 350th overall for the long-serving Russian carrier rocket. The Boeing-made DIRECTV-12 satellite, weighing around 6 metric tons, will become part of DIRECTV satellite grouping and provide HDTV, Internet, and communications services to subscribers in the United States. The Khrunichev center has overseen 12 successful launches of its carrier rockets since the start of 2009.