The satellite, designed by the Reshetnev Applied Mechanics Science and Production Association to provide TV and satellite communications all over Russia, was launched on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan earlier on Monday.
"The separation of the spacecraft from a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M booster took place on schedule and without complications," a spokesman for the space agency, Roscosmos, said.
Proton-M launch services are provided by Russian-American joint venture International Launch Services (ILS), which received $1.5 billion in new launch orders in 2007.
ILS is owned by Space Transport Inc., Khrunichev State Research and Production Center, and RSC Energia.
Another scheduled launch, of the Thor-2R communications satellite owned by Norway's Telenor Satellite Broadcasting, will take place on February 10.
