MOSCOW, February 11 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian carrier rocket with a Norwegian telecoms satellite on board has been launched, a spokesperson for Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said on Monday.

The launch of a Proton-M rocket carrying a Thor-5 satellite from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan was originally planned for February 10, but subsequently delayed until 2:34 p.m. Moscow time (11:34 a.m. GMT) February 11 due to technical problems, Roscosmos said.

The spokesperson added that the detachment of the satellite from the Briz-M booster of the carrier rocket was scheduled for 8:56 p.m. GMT.

The Thor-5 satellite, produced by the U.S.-based Orbital Sciences Corporation under a contract with Norway's telecoms giant Telenor, is designed for operation in the geostationary orbit for 15 years and is to cover Northern and Central Europe, as well as the Middle East.