On May 30, 2019 at 17:24 UTC the Russian "Proton-M” rocket-carrier was launched from Baykonur Cosmodrome. The rocket equipped with the "Briz-M” booster orbited the “Yamal-601” telecommunications satellite. It is a French-built, Russian-owned satellite. The space vehicle is owned by the Gazprom Space Systems, a provider of satellite communications to Russian homes, businesses and the government, and a daughter company of oil giant Gazprom. Designed for a 15-year mission, the spacecraft was built by Thales Alenia Space of France. This launch was the first “Proton” flight of the year, and the 419th Proton rocket launch since 1965.