Thu, May 15, 2003
65 Successes in a Row for Atlas
An Atlas V rocket placed the Hellas-Sat satellite into orbit
Tuesday, marking the 65th consecutive successful flight for Atlas,
its builder Lockheed Martin and mission provider International
Launch Services (ILS).
This was the second launch in the Atlas V series,
Lockheed Martin's powerful current-generation vehicle. It lifted
off at 6:10 p.m. EDT (22:10 GMT), placing the Hellas-Sat spacecraft
in a supersynchronous transfer orbit 31 minutes later. Satellite
controllers have confirmed that the Hellas-Sat spacecraft is
functioning properly.
The Atlas V rocket placed the satellite into a nearly perfect
transfer orbit: apogee of 85,458 km (target was 85,554 km), perigee
of 312.2 km (target was 312 km), and an inclination right on target
at 17.06 degrees.
Hellas-Sat is the first telecommunications satellite for Greece
and Cyprus. The satellite is an Astrium Eurostar 2000+ model that
will provide voice, video, data and broadcast services over Europe,
Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
The Atlas V family is designed to lift payloads up to nearly
8,700 kg to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). It was developed
both for ILS commercial missions and to meet the U.S. Air Force
requirements for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV). The
Atlas V incorporates state-of-the-art designs, materials and
processes, including the throttleable, Russian-built RD-180 engine,
the first variable-thrust main engine to power a U.S. expendable
launch vehicle.
ILS is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. in the United
States, with Russian companies Khrunichev State Research and
Production Space Center and RSC Energia. ILS provides launch
services on the Atlas and the Russian Proton vehicles to customers
worldwide.
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