The Russian-owned launch provider, which has spent the last few years in third-place in the global commercial communications satellite launch market, says it will evaluate ways to improve its reliability and viability in the wake of a Feb. 1 launch failure.
In a pair of statements issued last week by Sea Launch and RSC Energia, its Moscow-based majority owner, officials said they were committed to returning to flight.
Sea Launch's Zenit 3SL rocket flew off course and fell into the Pacific Ocean moments after liftoff Feb. 1. The Intelsat 27 communications satellite was destroyed in the botched launch.
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The 20-story rocket, loaded with more than 900,000 pounds of flammable propellant, blasted off at 0656 GMT (1:56 a.m. EST) from Sea Launch's Odyssey launch platform stationed in the Pacific Ocean about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.
But something almost immediately went wrong with the launch, and the three-stage rocket appeared to fly off course before its RD-171 main engine switched off about 25 seconds after liftoff, apparently as a safety measure.
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The Intelsat 27 spacecraft aboard the Zenit rocket was insured for about $400 million, according to a company official.
"Intelsat S.A., the world's leading provider of satellite services, announced today that at 1:57 a.m. EST, the launch of the Intelsat 27 satellite failed approximately 40 seconds after liftoff. A Zenit 3SL launch vehicle was carrying the satellite built by Boeing. Intelsat 27 was to operate from 304.5 degrees East, an orbital location currently occupied by Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11. The satellite was designed to serve customers in North America, South America, the North Atlantic and Europe.
Sea Launch will establish a Failure Review Oversight Board to determine the cause of the failure. Service to customers on Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11 will not be interrupted as a result of today's event. Intelsat is committed to working with its customers to identify the most appropriate solutions for service continuity. The satellite and launch were fully insured.
"We are clearly disappointed with the outcome of the launch. The cause of the failure is unknown, but we will work closely with our launch and manufacturing partners to determine the necessary next steps," said Intelsat CEO David McGlade.
"Sea Launch AG announced today that approximately 40 seconds after liftoff of the launch of the Intelsat 27 spacecraft, all telemetry was lost indicating a loss of mission. The spacecraft, built by Boeing Satellite Systems was launched on a Zenit-3SL launch vehicle from the equator on the ocean-based Odyssey launch platform, positioned at 154 degrees West longitude.
"Sea Launch will establish a Failure Review Oversight Board to determine the root cause of the incident and will provide additional information, as it becomes available, on the Sea Launch website at: www.sea-launch.com.
"We are very disappointed with the outcome of the launch and offer our sincere regrets to our customer, Intelsat, and their spacecraft provider, BSSI," said Kjell Karlsen, president of Sea Launch AG. "The cause of the failure is unknown, but we are evaluating it and working closely with Intelsat, BSSI, Energia Logistics Ltd. and our Zenit-3SL suppliers. We will do everything reasonably possible to recover from this unexpected and unfortunate event."
We are still awaiting an official update from Sea Launch.
We will provide an update as soon as we receive any new information.
Check out the launch timeline for an overview of what should be happening with the launch.
Separation of the first stage is coming up in about 30 seconds.
Some statistics on today's launch:
Weather conditions are predicted to be favorable at launch time.
Liquid oxygen loading began around 0440 GMT (11:40 p.m. EST), and refined kerosene fuel will begin flowing into the launcher shortly, according to Sea Launch. All three stages of the Zenit 3SL rocket burn liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants.
The Sea Launch Commander control ship is safely positioned about 3 miles from the Odyssey platform for the final countdown. The final workers evacuate the platform via helicopter to the command ship.
Preparations are underway to load liquid oxygen propellant into the three-stage Zenit 3SL rocket as the final workers are evacuated from the Odyssey launch platform.
Liftoff remains scheduled for 0656 GMT (1:56 a.m. EST).
The company's Odyssey mobile launch pad, a converted North Sea oil drilling platform, steamed from Long Beach, Calif., to the Pacific launch site, arriving there Jan. 26 with the Sea Launch Commander control vessel.
Engineers positioned the Zenit 3SL rocket on the Odyssey launch pad Wednesday. The booster and its satellite payload passed prelaunch tests, and Sea Launch plans to begin fueling of the rocket a few hours before liftoff.
Launch is scheduled for 0656 GMT (1:56 a.m. EST) at the opening of a 58-minute launch window.
The Odyssey platform is stationed along the equator at 154 degrees west longitude, or about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.
The 20-story Zenit 3SL rocket, powered by 1.6 million pounds of thrust from its RD-171 main engine, will blast off toward the east from the launch pad, hugging the equator as it crosses the Pacific Ocean before deploying the 13,702-pound Intelsat 27 satellite about 30 minutes after liftoff.
The two-stage Zenit booster, designed by Yuzhnoye and built by Yuzhmash in Ukraine, will fire for eight-and-a-half minutes before yielding to a Russian Block DM-SL upper stage to place Intelsat 27 in a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
The launcher will target an orbit with a low point of 124 miles, a high point of 21,918 miles, and an inclination of 0 degrees, according to Sea Launch, which is based in Switzerland but conducts launch operations in Long Beach, Calif.
See the launch timeline for more details.
Friday's launch will be the 35th flight for Sea Launch, which conducted its first mission in 1999. Sea Launch's majority owner is Energia Overseas Ltd. of Moscow, a subsidiary of the Russian aerospace giant Energia.
Intelsat 27, built by Boeing Co., will use an on-board propulsion system to circularize its orbit at an altitude of 22,300 miles.
Once it enters service, Intelsat 27 will serve media, network and government customers across North America, South America, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite carries 20 C-band and 20 Ku-band transponders with four 7.5-foot deployable antennas.
Intelsat 27 also carries a UHF hosted payload payload designed for government and military customers.
The new satellite will replace Intelsat 805, which launched in June 1998. Intelsat 27 will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 55.5 degrees west longitude.