PHOTOS: Proton blasts off with Eutelsat 3D

BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Posted: May 16, 2013

A Russian Proton rocket soared into space Tuesday with the Eutelsat 3D broadcasting satellite, carefully maneuvering the 6-ton spacecraft into a high-altitude transfer orbit during a 9-hour flight.

The three-stage Proton launcher lifted off at 1602 GMT (12:02 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 19-story rocket vaulted into the sky and lit up the area over Baikonur, where it was just after dusk.

After the Proton's three core stages finished firing, a Breeze M upper stage ignited five times to raise the craft's orbit before deploying it in a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

The injection was on-target, reaching an elliptical orbit with a high point of approximately 22,240 miles, a low point of about 4,200 miles and an inclination of 17.6 degrees, according to U.S. military tracking data.

International Launch Services, the U.S.-based management firm responsible for commercial Proton launches, declared the mission a success late Tuesday.

The 12,059-pound Eutelsat 3D satellite is beginning a 15-year service life serving markets in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

The spacecraft, built by Thales Alenia Space and based on the company's Spacebus 4000 platform, partially deployed its solar panels as planned about three hours after separation from the Breeze M upper stage, according to Eutelsat, the craft's Paris-based operator.

Eutelsat 3D will be positioned initially at 3 degrees east longitude in the geostationary belt over the equator, providing video, data and broadband services with Ku-band and Ka-band transponders.

"We are delighted to confirm that Eutelsat 3D is on its way to 3 degrees east," said Michel de Rosen, CEO of Eutelsat, in a statement. "From next month, this new satellite will take service at 3 degrees east to a new level in advance of the launch in 2014 of Eutelsat 3B. Our thanks to Thales Alenia Space for delivering our new satellite and to ILS and Khrunichev for this flight which maintains our track record of 100 percent success since our first Proton launch in 2000."

Eutelsat will reposition the satellite to 7 degrees east in 2014 after the launch of the Eutelsat 3B satellite, which will take over operations at the 3 degrees east location.

In conjunction with its launch announcement, Eutelsat unveiled a new launch contract with ILS for an unidentified spacecraft to lift off on a Proton rocket between 2014 and 2016.

See our Mission Status Center for the latest news on the launch.



Credit: Roscosmos


Credit: Roscosmos


Credit: Roscosmos


Credit: Khrunichev


Credit: Khrunichev

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