A Russian Proton rocket carrying a Canadian telecommunications satellite blasted off from Russia's Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan early Friday, Russian space agency Roskosmos's officials said.
The blastoff was at 1:53 am (2153 GMT Thursday), with the Anik F1R satellite due to be placed in orbit at 5:16 pm, officials quoted by the RIA-Novosti news agency said.
"The satellite with a unique 15-year service term will supply communications, television, mobile telephone connections and wireless Internet service," the Roskosmos representative said.
The Anik F1R would replace an earlier Anik F1 satellite, whose service term had run out.
