Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan in October last year.
"This weekend, the booster was delivered to site 31 [at Baikonur] for fuelling and fitting with the AMOS-3 satellite," Roscosmos said in a statement.
The $170-mln satellite will join the AMOS-1 and AMOS-2 satellites to increase capacity, expand coverage areas, and enhance direct cross-Atlantic links that connect the Mideast to Europe and the U.S. East Coast, according to Space Communications Ltd., the operator of the AMOS satellite fleet.
The Zenit-3SLB is a modernized version of the Zenit-3SL carrier rocket whose launches have been conducted from the Sea Launch consortium's floating launch platform in the Pacific Ocean.
