DHAKA: Russia successfully launched an unmanned Proton-M booster rocket on Monday, the first since the same type of rocket crashed in flames shortly after lift-off in July.

The space agency said, reports The Jerusalem Post.

Carrying a communications satellite for Luxembourg-based SES , the rocket blasted off from the Russian-leased Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan at 3:38am (local time), Roskosmos said.

The satellite reached orbit about nine hours later, state-run spacecraft maker Khrunichev, which built the Proton-M, said on its website.

The heavy-lift Proton-M is a workhorse of Russia’s space program and the fiery crash on July 2 was one of several setbacks in recent years.

BDST: 1453 HRS, SEPT 30, 2013
RoR/BSK