BAIKONUR. Dec 23 (Interfax-AVN) - A Proton-M launch vehicle with a Briz-M upper stage and the Express-AM5 telecom satellite was installed on the launch pad of the Baikonur Space Center's 81st site on Monday morning, a Baikonur spokesman said.
"Space Center crews have installed the launch vehicle on the launch pad and are fulfilling the first pre-launch day protocol," he said.
The Proton-M rocket will blast off from Baikonur at 2:49 p.m. Moscow time on December 26.
Information Satellite Systems built Express-AM5 together with its partners for broadcasting digital television and radio signal in Russia, supporting presidential and governmental communication, rendering telephony, videoconference, data transmission and Internet services, and creating VSAT communication networks.
Express-AM5 carries C, Ku, Ka and L transponders. Its service life is 15 years and the payload capacity is no less than 14 kilowatts. The satellite, which weighs 3,400 kilograms, is mounted on the unified satellite platform Express-2000 designed by Information Satellite Systems.