The MEASAT-3 satellite, built by Boeing with a project cost of one billion ringgit (281.13 million dollars), was launched at 7.28 am local time (1130 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"It is our proud moment ... It demonstrates that we are serious in the development of satellite technology communication because we want to be a serious player in the application of such technology," Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in special message to mark the launch.

The satellite was sent off on a Proton Breeeze-M rocket, whose flight will last about nine hours and 12 minutes before separating from the satellite.

"The lift off of the Proton went exactly to plan," MEASAT's director, Mohammad Hanif Omar said in a statement.

After separation, the satellite will be manoeuvred into its orbital location and undergo a series of tests expected to be completed by February 1 next year, the company said.

When operational, MEASAT-3 will boost the capacity of Malaysian operator's key orbital position by some 300 percent, extending its reach to more than 100 countries and allowing it to deliver more communication services.

"This significant investment by MEASAT is more than a private venture. Indeed, it carries with it into space the aspirations of an entire nation," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a speech as he witnessed the launch.

Najib hailed MEASAT for boosting Malaysia's technological advancement, saying its satellites were increasing access to telecommunications, television and Internet services in remote areas of the country.

Malaysia has also embarked on an ambitious space program which in October saw it launching Southeast Asia's first space centre, with its first astronaut due to blast off next year.

"With Malaysia's foray into space science ... and complemented by initiatives like this one from MEASAT, Malaysians can see that there is no barrier that we cannot overcome, no frontier that we cannot explore," Najib said.

MEASAT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the listed MEASAT Global, whose shareholders include government-linked companies such as Telekom Malaysia, which owns a 15 percent stake.

It currently operates two satellite networks, providing communications services to broadcasters across Asia and Australia.

MEASAT-3, which has an orbit mission life of about 15 years, will provide 24 C-band transponders with coverage across a region bounded by Africa and Eastern Europe in the west, to Japan and Australia in the east.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.