US-based company confirms plans to launching Proton carrier rockets

WASHINGTON, August 30 (Itar-Tass) - Plans for launching the
Russia-manufactured Proton carrier rockets with communication satellites
remain unchanged for September for the time being, a spokesman for the
U.S.-based International Launch Services company told Itar-Tass.
He said two launches have been scheduled for the end of September to
take into orbit the telecom satellites of the companies SES and ViaSat.
The former is a European company operating from Luxemburg and the latter
is based in California.
International Launch Services is a Russian-U.S. joint venture, the
majority stake in which belongs to the Khrunichev Space Research and
Development Center.
It has headquarters in Reston, Virgnia, near Washington D.C. and its
operations focus on the promotion of two Khrunichev products -- the Proton
heavy-duty carrier rockets and the Briz-M booster blocks -- to the
international market.
August 18, a Proton-M rocket that lifted off from the Baikonur Space
Center in Kazakhstan and was expected to take into orbit the Express-AM4
telecommunications satellite failed to complete the job, as problems
occurred in the control system of the Briz-M block. As a result, the
satellite did not reach the designated orbit.
International Launch Services now expects the results of analysis of
the problem on the Russian side and it will do its own analysis later, the
spokesman said.
Along with this, the company will take a decision on further launches.
As for now, it does not make any official announcements about delays
or postponements, the spokesman said.
He declined however to specify the dates of the launches.