A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying US telecommunications satellite Galaxy-14 blasted off from Russia's Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan early Sunday after a 24-hour postponement and successfully placed it in orbit.

The two-tonne Galaxy-14 was placed in orbit for American operator PanAmsat. The launch, initially scheduled for August 5, was already put off to enable extra checks to be made on the satellite.

Starsem is in charge of selling and exploiting Soyuz on the international market. It is owned by European company Arianespace (15 percent), European aeronautics group EADS (35 percent), Russian federal space agency Roscosmos (25 percent) and Russia's Samara space centre (25 percent).

Galaxy-14, built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, will supply services including digital video programs and high-definition television over the whole of the United States.