OREANDA-NEWS. Yamal-401, the telecommunications satellite designed and built by ISS-Reshetnev Company, has been launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome today on December 15, 2014.

A Proton-M/Breeze-M rocket carrying the Yamal-401 satellite lifted off from the launch pad at 3:16 Moscow time. The satellite has successfully reached the intended orbit and completed the Sun acquisition phase. Mechanical devices of its solar panels have deployed smoothly. Now the payload antennas are being deployed and the satellite's orbit parameters are being determined.

Yamal-401 is the second satellite manufactured by ISS-Reshetnev Company for the national satellite operator Gazprom Space Systems. Built around a heavy-class Express-2000 platform, the satellite weighs around 2976 kilograms and is capable of producing 11 kW of power to the payload. Yamal-401 was designed for a 15-year mission life.

The satellite is equipped with 53 transponders: 17 in the C- and 36 in the Ku- frequency bands to relay signals to customers across Europe and Asia.