Steadily ascending for nine hours and traveling a distance to loop around the planet four times, a Russian-made rocket booster successfully deployed a Canadian telecommunications satellite into the prescribed orbit Monday night.

It was a successful outcome for the International Launch Services-marketed Proton M rocket and its Breeze M upper stage carrying the Anik G1 spacecraft on a commercial trek to orbit.

Despite recent technical setbacks for Russia's space industry, Monday's flight appeared to go smoothly with an on-time takeoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1836 GMT (2:36 p.m. EDT), heading northeastward to reach a preliminary parking orbit about 16 minutes later.

The Proton's three stages fired for the first 10 minutes, then released Breeze to execute five firings over the course of evening and night as it circled the globe to propel the 10,800-pound payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Delivering the final push to shape the orbit almost 9 hours into the flight, the dropoff point was achieved and the satellite was cast free around 0349 GMT (11:49 p.m. EDT).

Nearly a million man hours were invested into building the satellite for operator Telesat of Ontario to deliver communications services to Canada, South America and the Pacific waters.

"This is an important new satellite for Telesat and our customers. Anik G1 provides expansion capacity for DTH services over Canada, a new X-band payload for government services, and additional C-band and Ku-band capacity for South America, where demand continues to grow. Telesat would like to thank ILS, SSL and everyone who played a role in making this launch a success," said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat.

Built by Space Systems/Loral using the SSL 1300 platform, the Anik G1 is outfitted with 24 C-band, 28 Ku-band and three X-band transponders. The design life is 15 years.

Operated from geostationary orbit at 107.3 degrees West and co-located with the Anik F1 satellite, Anik G1 will double the C- and Ku-band communications capacity for South America to support video, broadband and cellphone services.

What's more, the new satellite will dedicate some of the Ku-band transponders to provide direct-to-home television across Canada and the commercial X-band payload will feed military communications over a wide portion of the Pacific and Hawaii.

The craft should be checked out and ready to enter operations in early May.

Monday represented the 79th commercial Proton mission under the guidance of International Launch Services and 9th carrying a Telesat spacecraft.

"We thank Telesat for once again entrusting us with their satellite, their business and for their partnership over 14 years. We also want to express our gratitude for the work of all of the teams involved, including ILS, Khrunichev, Telesat, and SSL. Their efforts ensured a successful mission today," said ILS President Phil Slack.

The next ILS Proton launch will carry the Eutelsat 3D communications spacecraft into orbit in mid May.

LAUNCH SUCCESS! The Breeze M upper stage has accomplished its job, carrying Anik G1 into geosynchronous transfer orbit and deploying the satellite tonight.

Full story shortly.

The upper stage and attached Anik G1 satellite are currently in the midst of a five-hour coast period prior to the fifth and final firing by the Breeze M later tonight.

International Launch Services reports that the third and four burns took place as planned. The maneuvers included an 14.5-minute firing, then a pause to jettison the now-emptied extra fuel tank, followed by a three-minute engine firing as the rocket flew over South America and the Atlantic Ocean.

Breeze M now resides in a highly inclined, highly elliptical orbit, with a targeted low point of 265 miles, a high point of 22,245 miles and inclination of 49.1 degrees relative to the equator.

One final burn remains later tonight to raise the orbit's low point to 5,678 miles and substantially reduce the inclination to 13.4 degrees.

Spacecraft separation to complete the launch is expected at 0349 GMT (11:49 p.m. EDT).

The second burn has been conducted by the Breeze M upper stage, boosting the rocket and its Anik G1 payload from the initial low-altitude circular parking orbit of about 107 miles at 51.5 degrees inclination.

This latest firing, scheduled to last almost 18 minutes over the Atlantic Ocean and Africa as the vehicle was nearing completion of the first orbit, was designed to raise the altitude.

The new intermediate orbit is planned to be elliptical in nature, with a targeted low point of 168 miles, a high point of 3,107 miles and inclination of 50.3 degrees relative to the equator.

Breeze M now coasts until around 2204 GMT (6:04 p.m. EDT) when the next two burns occur back-to-back with only a brief pause in between to shed the donut-like auxiliary propellant tank.

The Breeze M upper stage and Anik G1 are now in a coast period that will last until T+67 minutes, 33 seconds. That is when the stage re-ignites for a 17-minute, 46-second burn.

A third firing will begin at T+plus 3 hours, 28 minutes and last for 14.5 minutes. Following completion of its third burn of the mission, the Breeze M will jettison its emptied Additional Propellant Tank. The stage then restarts at T+3 hour, 45 minutes for a three-minute firing.

A final ten-minute burn will occur at T+plus 8 hours, 51 minutes to finish shaping the orbit.

Spacecraft separation to complete the launch is targeted to occur at T+plus 9 hours, 13 minutes, or 0349 GMT (11:49 p.m. EDT).

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International Launch Services reports that the first burn of Breeze M was successfully completed to put the vehicle into a preliminary parking orbit. Today's mission is going according to plan.

The Breeze M upper stage is burning to achieve a low-altitude parking orbit around Earth. This burn should last about four-and-a-half minutes in total duration.

Telemetry confirms that the third stage finished firing and jettisoned, finishing the Proton M rocket's role in the ascent. The Breeze M upper stage now must perform its five burns.

T+plus 9 minutes. The third stage should complete its burn in about a minute, followed by separation of the spent motor. The Breeze M and attached Anik G1 spacecraft will then be on a suborbital trajectory in preparation for the first of five planned firings by the upper stage to reach geosynchronous transfer orbit over the next several hours.

T+plus 8 minutes. Second stage separation has occurred for ignition of the Proton third stage. Also, the payload fairing enclosing the Anik G1 spacecraft atop the rocket has separated.

T+plus 3 minutes. The Proton continues streaking to space on the power of the second stage. Vehicle performance is reported normal.

T+plus 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The six main engines on the first stage have extinguished and the spent stage just separated. Now, the four second stage engines are up and burning as planned.

T+plus 90 seconds. Just over a half-minute remaining in the first stage burn. Everything is looking good with the flight.

T+plus 60 seconds. The vehicle is now approaching the period of maximum dynamic pressure during its climb through the atmosphere.

T+plus 45 seconds. Proton is heading northeastward on a flight azimuth of 62.1 degrees.

T+plus 30 seconds. The Proton rocket is performing its roll maneuver to achieve the proper launch heading for flight downrange. All six first stage liquid-fueled engines are up and burning.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of Proton and the Canadian Anik G1 spacecraft, a communications broadcaster for the Americas.

T-minus 60 seconds. All systems remain "go" for liftoff at the precise and instantaneous launch time a minute from now.

T-minus 2 minutes. The countdown is being run by a master computer sequencer.

T-minus 5 minutes. The launch readiness of the Proton core vehicle, Breeze M upper stage and Anik G1 spacecraft will be verified over the next few minutes in the countdown.

Weather conditions are within limits for today's Proton launch. The latest report at Baikonur indicates mostly cloudy skies, a temperature around 46 degrees F and northerly winds of 13 to 18 mph.

T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The Proton rocket weighs 1,554,000 pounds as it sits on the launch pad. The Anik G1 spacecraft accounts for about 10,800 pounds of the weight.

T-minus 12 minutes and counting. At launch the Proton's six first stage engines will fire together to propel the 191-foot-tall rocket into the middle-of-the-night sky at Baikonur. Liftoff is scheduled for 12:36 a.m. local time at Baikonur.

Retraction of the launch pad's mobile service tower from the Proton rocket occurred a little while ago as preparations continue for today's ascent of the Anik G1 communications satellite.

The three-stage Proton core vehicle and Breeze M upper stage are fully fueled, a process that began about six hours before launch time. Liftoff remains scheduled for 1836 GMT (2:36 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The six engines on the Proton first stage will ignite at launch to push the 19-story rocket away from Earth on two million pounds of thrust. After first stage separation two minutes into flight, four engines aboard the second stage fire for three-and-a-half minutes before shutting down and jettisoning. The Proton's third stage then comes to life for its four-minute job, during which time the protective payload fairing shielding Anik G1 will separate.

The Breeze M upper stage then assumes control of the mission to conduct a series of five critical burns spread across nine hours to propel the payload into the proper orbit by tonight.

Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

• 385th Proton rocket launch since 1965
• 79th International Launch Services Proton
• 64th Proton M using a Breeze M upper stage since 2001
• Second Proton of 2012
• 26th Space Systems/Loral satellite on ILS Proton
• 9th Telesat satellite launch on ILS Proton

A Canadian broadcasting satellite to serve communications to the Americas will be hauled into orbit today by Russia's commercial Proton heavy-lifting rocket.

Launch of the Proton M booster fitted with a Breeze M upper stage carrying the Anik G1 spacecraft cargo is scheduled for 1836 GMT (2:36 p.m. EDT) from pad 39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Watch this page for live updates and streaming video coverage beginning at 1815 GMT (2:15 p.m. EDT).

The payload will become a powerful new telecommunications craft and the 14th bird in the orbiting fleet operated by Telesat of Ontario, Canada.

"Anik G1 is an important addition to Telesat's fleet that will support new DTH services over Canada, bring new C-band and Ku-band capacity to South America, and also offer X-band coverage over the Americas and much of the Pacific Ocean," said Dan Goldberg, President and CEO of Telesat.

Built by Space Systems/Loral with a launch weight of 10,800 pounds, the Anik G1 is outfitted with a 24 C-band, 28 Ku-band and three X-band transponder package within the SSL 1300 platform. The design life is 15 years.

Operated from geostationary orbit at 107.3 degrees West and co-located with the Anik F1 satellite, Anik G1 will double the C- and Ku-band communications capacity for South America to support video and cellphone services.

What's more, the new satellite will provide direct-to-home television across Canada and the commercial X-band payload will feed military communications over a wide portion of the Pacific and Hawaii.

The climb to orbit will be another of the Proton/Breeze M vehicle's marathons. The lower three stages of the Khrunichev-built Proton will fire during the mission's first 10 minutes. Five burns of the Breeze M upper stage will follow over the next nine hours to reach the targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit for release of the satellite.

The rocket's flight is managed by International Launch Services, the Proton's chief marketer to commercial satellite companies. It will be the 79th ILS Proton dating back the past 17 years.

The lower Proton stages leave the combined upper stage and Anik G1 vehicle on a suborbital trajectory. The first Breeze M firing is needed to achieve a temporary parking orbit around Earth at an altitude of 107 miles, inclined 51.5 degrees.

The next four Breeze M firings will methodically raise the orbit and reduce inclination before deploying the Anik spacecraft into an orbit with an apogee of 22,236 miles, perigee of 5,678 miles and inclination of 13.4 degrees.

The rocket's separation from the satellite is expected at 0349 GMT (11:49 p.m. EDT) to complete the launch sequence.

Anik G1 will rely upon its onboard propulsion to reach a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the planet where it can match Earth's rotation and appear fixed along the equator.

Check this page during the launch for live updates on the mission's progress.

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