PARIS -
Satellite-fleet operator SES Astra expects to begin commercial service of its
Astra 1M satellite in January at the company's prime orbital slot, 19.2 degrees
east, following a successful Wednesday launch by an International Launch
Services (ILS) Russian Proton-M rocket, Luxembourg-based SES announced.
The
11,684-pound (5,300-kg) Astra 1M, a Eurostar E3000 platform built by Astrium
Satellites, carries 36 high-power Ku-band transponders, and three antennas and
will provide direct-broadcast television, including high-definition
programming, throughout Europe. The satellite is capable of generating 10
kilowatts of power and is expected to operate for 15 years.
The Proton
Breeze M rocket, built by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
of Moscow, blasted off from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:44
p.m. EST (2044 GMT). The Breeze M upper stage conducted five ignitions before
placing Astra 1M into geostationary transfer orbit nine hours and 12 minutes
after liftoff, according to Reston, Va.-based ILS, the company that
commercializes Proton launches.
The launch
is the third successful ILS liftoff since
a March failure, which destroyed the SES Americom AMC-14 satellite. A
Proton in a different configuration, carrying a Russian government satellite, also
was launched since the March failure.
ILS' next
launch, scheduled for December, is expected to carry the Ciel-2
telecommunications satellite into orbit for Canada's start-up Ciel Satellite
LP, which is majority-owned by SES.
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