Tue, Apr 27, 2010
3rd ILS Proton Mission of 2010, 5th in 4 Months
International Launch Services (ILS) successfully launched the
SES-1 satellite directly into geostationary orbit Saturday on an
ILS Proton for SES World Skies. This was the third ILS Proton
launch and the fifth overall Proton launch this year. The SES-1
satellite was also the 22nd consecutive successful Proton launch in
21 months.
The ILS Proton Breeze M launched from Pad 39 at the Cosmodrome
at 1119 GMT. After an eight-hour, 58-minute mission, the Breeze M
successfully released the SES-1 satellite directly into
geostationary orbit.
This was the 356th launch for Proton since its inaugural flight
in 1965, and the 59th ILS Proton launch overall. The Proton Breeze
M launch vehicle was developed and built by Khrunichev Research and
Production Space Center of Moscow, one of the pillars of the
Russian space industry and the majority shareholder in ILS.
The SES-1 satellite was built on Orbital’s space-proven
Star 2.4 platform and will replace SES’ existing AMC-2 and
AMC-4 satellites at the orbital position of 101 degrees West. SES-1
is an integral part of SES’ satellite replacement program
over North America. The spacecraft carries 24 C-band transponders
as well as 24 Ku-band transponders of 36 MHz capacity each and has
been designed to have a minimum expected service time of 15
years.
Frank McKenna, ILS President said, “With our long term
partners, SES, this is our 17th mission together, dating back to
the inaugural commercial launch of ILS Proton with SES’s
Astra 1F fourteen years ago. ILS is pleased to again provide to SES
outstanding value, and on-time direct-into-GSO delivery of SES-1 to
serve millions of North American customers with new services. We
thank the teams of ILS, Khrunichev, SES and Orbital for their
dedication to this important mission which kicks off SES’s
comprehensive replacement program over North America.”
Rob Bednarek, President and CEO of SES WORLD SKIES said,
“The successful, on-time launch on ILS Proton of SES-1 marks
a very significant event for our North American customers. SES-1
will provide uninterrupted replacement capacity for SES WORLD
SKIES, providing TV programming into every cable network in
America. This is the first of five SES missions on ILS Proton in
the next 18 months. We look forward to our future launches with ILS
and the same quality and schedule assurance that we have come to
count on for the continued expansion and replacement of our
satellite fleet.”
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