MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2020) The flight of Russian Proton-M carrier rocket next week to place telecom satellites Express-80 and Express-103 into orbit will be the longest in history.
As confirmed by the Russian state space agency Roscosmos earlier in the day, the flight is scheduled for July 30. The separation of Express-80 is scheduled 17 hours and 59 minutes upon takeoff, while Express-103 is expected to separate 17 minutes after that.
Last September, Proton-M launched European telecommunication satellite Eutelsat 5 West B and US' Mission Extension Vehicle-1 in a flight that lasted for almost 16 hours.
The launch of the Express satellites is scheduled to take place at 00:27 Moscow time next Sunday (21:27 GMT on Saturday), to mark the first and only flight of Proton-M this year.
The Express satellites were scheduled for launch earlier this year, but ended up postponed due to technical drawbacks on the carrier rocket. Proton-M was returned to Moscow and then back to the Baikonur space field after repairs in June.
The Russian-made satellites Express-80 and Express-103 will be placed on a geostationary orbit at around 22,200-mile height above the equator at 80 degrees and 96.5 degrees of Eastern longitude, respectively. They will be providing communications and broadcast services in the С-, Ku- and L- bands in Russia and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
