Russia puts Israeli satellite into orbit

MOSCOW - Russia has sent an Israeli communications satellite into orbit, the federal space agency Roscosmos said Sunday.

A Zenit-2SB rocket carrying the satellite blasted off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan at 00:05 Moscow time Sunday (2005 GMT Saturday), according to Roscosmos.

At 6:50 am Moscow time (0250 GMT), the Amos-4 satellite successfully separated from the DM-SLB upper stage, a spokesperson with the space agency told reporters.

Built by Israeli Aerospace Industries Ltd., the satellite will provide broadband Internet services as well as other services to consumers in Russia, Central and Southeast Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.