MOSCOW, June 22 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian Zenit-3SLB carrier rocket launched from the Baikonur space center put Malaysia's Measat-3a communications satellite into orbit on Monday, a Federal Space Agency Roscosmos official said.

"The Russian carrier successfully put the foreign satellite into transfer orbit. Control over the satellite has been transferred to the client, who is responsible for putting the apparatus into geostationary orbit," the official said.

Measat-3a carries 12 Ku-band and 12 C-band active transponders along with three antennas, and has a service life of 15 years.

The satellite will serve C-band markets throughout the Asia Pacific region with a global beam, while Ku-band beams will serve direct-to-home broadcasting markets in Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Zenit-3SLB is a modernized three-stage version of the Zenit-3SL, which was previously used at Sea Launch's floating platform in the Pacific Ocean.