A Russian Proton rocket successfully transported a commercial satellite into orbit Saturday that will provide telecommunications services to the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The Proton rocket blasts off with Intelsat 903. Photo: ILS

The Intelsat 903 spacecraft rode the four-stage launcher into space following an on-time 1725 GMT (12:25 p.m. EST) liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Six hours and 43 minutes later, the 4,726 kg (10,421 pound) satellite was deployed from the Block DM upper stage into an egg-shaped geosynrchonous transfer orbit. Read our play-by-play coverage of the ascent in the Mission Status Center.

The flight was conducted under the auspices of International Launch Services, the joint venture formed in 1995 between the U.S. Lockheed Martin company and Russian firms Khrunichev and Energia to globally market Atlas and Proton rockets.

The Proton's second stage ignites as the spent first stage drops away about two minutes into flight. Photo: ILS TV/Spaceflight Now

"Proton has once again proven its reliability," said ILS President Mark Albrecht, noting that ILS' two vehicle families have launched 31 Intelsat satellites over three decades. "We look forward to continuing our relationship with Intelsat by flying an Intelsat 10 satellite on the enhanced Proton M next year."

Saturday's launch was the third in less than two months for ILS following, the successful flights of Atlas 3B and Atlas 2A rockets from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Space Systems/Loral-built Intelsat 903 will maneuver itself to a circular geostationary orbit 36,000 km (22,300 miles) above the equator. At that altitude, the satellite will match Earth's rotation and appear to hover above one spot of the globe -- 34.5 degrees West longitude.

"Intelsat is very pleased to have successfully launched yet another satellite that will enable us to bring more powerful solutions to our customers," said Intelsat Ltd. CEO Conny Kullman. "The success of the Intelsat 9 series is crucial for the types of applications we believe our customers require."

Illustration of Intelsat 903 firing its onboard engine to raise the orbit. Photo: ILS TV/Spaceflight Now

Intelsat 903 is actually the fourth in a series of seven enhanced satellites being launched to improve Intelsat's orbiting fleet, which grows to 23 satellites with this newest addition.

"Intelsat is engaged in the most aggressive launch campaign in its history -- four satellites in a year," said Ramu Potarazu, president and chief operating officer of Intelsat Global Service Corp.

"Every launch is an operational and engineering marvel. Getting the bird in the right place in the sky, keeping it there, taking power from the sun and most importantly connecting people on Earth."

The Intelsat 9 satellites provide increased communications capacity at higher power and enhanced coverage area than the older satellites in Intelsat's fleet.

Illustration of an Intelsat 9 satellite in geostationary orbit. Photo: ILS TV/Spaceflight Now

Intelsat 903 will replace the aging Intelsat 601 satellite at the 34.5 degree location in the company's Atlantic Ocean Region coverage zone. Plans call for Intelsat 601, which was launched in October 1991 aboard a European Ariane rocket, to be relocated to 33 degrees East over Africa later this year for operations in an inclined orbit.

Intelsat 903 is designed to offer broad C-band service coverage to Europe, the Middle East, North and South America and Africa, and high-power Ku-band spot beam coverage for Western Europe and much of North America. The satellite will relay TV broadcasts, data transmissions, voice communications and high-speed Internet applications.

Intelsat, the world's first commercial satellite services provider that was established in 1964, will press the craft into service later this spring.

The remaining three Intelsat 9 satellites will be launched aboard Ariane rockets, with 905 and 906 slated for this year and 907 early in 2003.

"We are grateful to SS/L for building the Intelsat 903 satellite, which will provide the powerful and flexible services that our customers have come to expect," Kullman said. "Certainly, our 99.9993 percent fleet reliability in 2001 is indicative of our commitment to launching high-quality satellites."

Intelsat 903 is the 28th Loral-built satellite delivered for Intelsat since 1980.

For ILS, its next Proton launch is expected in about a month carrying the DirecTV-5 broadcasting satellite. The next Atlas launch is targeted for July when the inaugural Atlas 5 rocket blasts off carrying the Eutelsat Hot Bird 6 direct-to-home TV relay spacecraft.