MOSCOW, Aug. 26 - The conversion launch vehicle Dnepr with five RapidEye earth probing satellites is to take off from the Baikonur launch pad, Kazakhstan, on Friday.

"The launch has been set for 11:15 a.m., Moscow time," Kosmotras International Consortium told Interfax-AVN on Tuesday.

The satellites will be launched under a contract with Britain's Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) to increase a commercial earth observation satellite constellation, to be operated by Germany's RapidEye AG.