U.S. telecoms satellite reaches designated orbit

The U.S. Intelsat 18 telecommunications satellite was put into orbit on Thursday, a spokesman for Russian space agency Roscosmos said. "The separation took place according to the schedule. The control of the spacecraft has been handed over to the customer," the source said. The launch of the Russian-Ukrainian Zenit-2SB carrier rocket from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan was initially scheduled for 1:00 on Wednesday Moscow time (21:00 GMT on Tuesday), but Intelsat asked that it be moved to a reserve date, to October 6 at 1:00 Moscow time. The blastoff took place as scheduled. The Intelsat-18 satellite is equipped with 32 transponders and will provide telecommunications services to customers in East Asia, U.S. West Coast and the Pacific Region. Intelsat Ltd. operates the world's most extensive satellite network, comprising over 50 satellites. The Zenit-2, a medium-lift two-stage rocket, is produced by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnepropetrovsk. Its DM-SLB stage is made by Russian space corporation Energia.