Russia to launch 6 satellites for Saudis

Russia is to launch six satellites for Saudi Arabia this year, officials from both countries said today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the plans at a meeting with Saudi businessmen in Riyadh during a visit to boost trade between the world's top two oil producers.

A Saudi official said the Saudi-built satellites would be launched in the first half of this year.

He said five of them would be for telecommunications and data transfer; it was not clear what the sixth satellite was intended for.

Saudi Arabia already has several media and telecommunications satellites.