Russia launched a Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a U.S. telecommunication satellite on Wednesday, according to the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos.
Roscosmos's live broadcasting on its official website showed the rocket with the ViaSat-1 satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 22:48 Moscow time (18:48 GMT).
The satellite is scheduled to separate with the rocket at 08:01 Moscow time (04:01 GMT) on Thursday.
Roscosmos said that it was the sixth launch of Russia's Proton rocket in 2011.
The ViaSat-1 is reportedly the heaviest satellite lunched by Russian rockets.