MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) - A Proton-M rocket with a ProtoStar-2 telecommunication satellite has lifted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, Russia's space agency Roscosmos said on Saturday.

"The launch of the Proton-M rocket fitted with a Breeze-M booster and carrying a ProtoStar-2 telecommunication satellite went ahead at the scheduled time," the agency spokesperson said.

This is the fourth Proton launch, which was carried out by International Launch Services Inc, this year. ILS's controlling stake is owned by Russia's Khrunichev center, which develops and produces Proton and Angara carrier rockets.

ProtoStar Ltd is a private company incorporated in Bermuda, with U.S. operations based in San Francisco, California and its Asian operations located in Singapore.

ProtoStar plans to operate an initial fleet of three geostationary satellites to provide direct broadcast services for Indonesia, India, Philippines and Taiwan.

Two satellites have been acquired, and the first satellite, the ProtoStar-1, was launched aboard an Ariane 5 carrier rocket in July last year.

The primary control system for ProtoStar-2 was installed in Indonesia and will be operated by Indovision, a local subscription-based direct broadcast satellite service.