File photo of a Proton-M rocket being raised to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The vehicle lifted off at 3:46 a.m. Moscow time from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. As per the mission design, after 9 hours the spacecraft separated from the Breeze M and was released into geostationary orbit. The satellite was passed over to the Aerospace Defense Forces for subsequent control.

This was the 8th launch of the Proton vehicle this year and the 391st overall since its first flight in 1965. The Proton Breeze M vehicle is manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center of Moscow, one of the cornerstones of the global space industry.