Russia sends Turkish satellite into space

A Russian carrier rocket brought a Turkish communications satellite into its designated orbit Saturday, the federal space agency Roscosmos said. The Proton-M rocket, carrying the TurkSat-4A satellite, blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 1:09 a.m. Saturday Moscow time (2109 GMT Friday), Roscosmos said in an online statement. "The TurkSat-4A spacecraft separated from the upper stage and has been handed over to the client's control," a Roscosmos spokesperson said later Saturday. Owned by the Turkish satellite communications operator Turksat AS and built by a Japanese company, the TurkSat-4A is designed to provide TV broadcasting and broadband internet service in Turkey, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. This has been the second space launch Russia carried out since 2014. On Feb. 5, a Soyuz-U rocket carrying a Progress cargo spacecraft had been launched from Baikonur.