MOSCOW, April 9 1996 – A combined Russian, American and European team made space history today with the first launch of a Western satellite on a Russian rocket. The Proton launch vehicle carried the ASTRA 1F satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit early this morning with a dazzling liftoff at 5:09 a.m. (7:09 p.m EDT, April 8) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
