MOSCOW, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia will resume launches of the Proton-M space rockets on Sept. 15, the operating company said Wednesday.
"The International Launch Service's Proton return-to-flight mission will be the Astra 2E satellite for the (satellite operator) SES on September 15, 2013," the ILS said on its website.
The ILS is a joint company owned by Russia's Khrunichev State Scientific-Production Center, Rocket-Space Corporation Energia and the U.S. Space Transport Inc.
Russia shelved all scheduled launches after one of the carrier rockets crashed on July 2. A Proton-M carrying three navigation satellites exploded less than a minute after blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The government commission investigating the crash has said, the blast was caused by the improper installation of the rocket's angular sensors.
On Aug. 5, the Federal Space Agency Roscosomos said it was to resume launches of its Proton-M rockets, with five scheduled by the end of the year. The Proton-M rocket is Russia's most popular for commercial satellite launches.
