ALMATY, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Kazakhstan sent its first satellite into space early Sunday as part of a drive to become a space-exploring nation.

The satellite, designed to provide TV broadcasts and communications for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and part of Russia, was launched at 4:44 a.m. local time (2244 GMT Saturday) aboard a Russian Proton-K booster rocket.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin witnessed the launch of the unmanned Russian-built KazSat 1 at Baikonur cosmodrome, the world's largest space center.

"It's a great step forward in the development of the domestic space industry and for Kazakhstan, it means it has become a space nation," said Igor Panarin, a spokesman for the Russian space agency.

The Kazakh government said the development of the space industry has become a strategic goal for the country and was preparing a national space program to run until 2020.

The plan includes projects to create Kazakhstan's own design bureau with assembly and testing facilities which would build small satellites weighing from 80 to 160 kg. Enditem