BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Follow the countdown and flight of the Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket with the Thuraya 2 communications spacecraft. Reload this page for the very latest on the mission.

TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2003
1550 GMT (11:50 a.m. EDT)

SPACECRAFT ACQUISITION! Confirmation from Sea Launch that signals from the Thuraya 2 satellite have been received at a ground station in Western Australia, indicating the spacecraft is in good health.

1549 GMT (11:49 a.m. EDT)

We are still awaiting confirmation of spacecraft health from a ground station in Australia. It had been expected several minutes ago.

1536 GMT (11:36 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 1 hour, 40 minutes. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION! The Thuraya 2 mobile communications satellite has been released from the Block DM-SL upper stage to complete this ninth flight for Sea Launch and first in over a year.

Built by Boeing, the spacecraft will be operated by Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, of United Arab Emirates, to provide cellular-like voice and data services in about 100 nations in the Middle East, Europe, North and Central Africa, and South and Central Asia. The system has been used extensively during the recent events in Iraq.

Controllers will maneuver Thuraya 2 into geostationary orbit where it will operate at 44 degrees East longitude over the equator.

Thuraya officials say the new spacecraft will ensure backup capabilities for the communications system, while allowing the company to expand its services and coverage area.

The Thuraya 1 satellite was launched nearly three years ago. But it suffers from a design flaw that reduces the amount of power its solar array system can generate. The Thuraya 2 was constructed without the troublesome solar array concentrators, which were blamed for the problem, and the arrays were lengthened.

For Sea Launch, the international consortium hopes to perform four missions this year. Its last mission occurred in June 2002.

1517 GMT (11:17 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 1 hour, 21 minutes. Cutoff of the Block DM-SL's 11D58M main engine has been confirmed. This completes the powered phase of today's launch. The stage will now coast for about 20 minutes before deploying the 5,177 kg (11,413 pound) Thuraya 2 satellite at T+plus 1 hour, 40 minutes, 23 seconds, according to Sea Launch.

1511 GMT (11:11 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 1 hour, 15 minutes. The Block DM-SL upper stage is firing again for a six-minute burn to accelerate Thuraya 2 into the targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit.

1414 GMT (10:14 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 18 minutes. The Block DM-SL upper stage and Thuraya have achieved a low-altitude parking orbit. The next event in the flight will be reignition of the stage in just under an hour.

We'll update this page with confirmation of the final burn and deployment of the payload.

1410 GMT (10:10 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 14 minutes, 25 seconds. The first of two firings by the Block DM-SL upper stage has been completed.

The stage and attached will coast in a preliminary parking orbit around Earth for the next hour before the next firing to complete the powered phase of launch. The stage restart is due to occur at T+plus 1 hour, 14 minutes, 45 seconds into flight. Spacecraft deployment is scheduled for T+plus 1 hour, 40 minutes, 23 seconds after launch.

1405 GMT (10:05 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 9 minutes, 25 seconds. The second stage vernier engines have been shut down and the spent stage has been jettisoned. The Block DM-SL upper stage is now firing for the first of two burns to deliver Thuraya 2 into geosynchronous transfer orbit.

1404 GMT (10:04 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 8 minutes, 15 seconds. The second stage RD-120 main engine has cut off. Stage separation is upcoming momentarily.

1401 GMT (10:01 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 4 minutes, 20 seconds. The second stage of Zenit continues to fire. All systems are nominal, Sea Launch says.

1358 GMT (9:58 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 2 minutes, 40 seconds. The first stage RD-171 engine has shut down and the spent stage was jettisoned. It will impact the Pacific Ocean. Ignition of the second stage engine has been announced.

1357 GMT (9:57 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 1 minute, 30 seconds. A good flight so far for the Zenit 3SL rocket, Sea Launch says.

1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 50 seconds. First stage engine performance reported normal.

1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT)

T+plus 20 seconds. The Zenit rocket is pitching over to the proper trajectory.

1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT)

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket with the Thuraya 2 mobile communications spacecraft!

1355 GMT (9:55 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 1 minute. Now 60 seconds away from liftoff. The Thuraya 2 is running on internal power and healthy for liftoff.

1354 GMT (9:54 a.m. EDT)

T-minus 2 minutes and counting. The engine start preparations are beginning to ready the first stage RD-171 powerplant for ignition. The Russian-made engine has four nozzles and powers the rocket for the first two minutes, 29 seconds of flight.

1352 GMT (9:52 a.m. EDT)

The doors on the Odyssey platform hangar are now closing.

1349 GMT (9:49 a.m. EDT)

All systems remain go for launch, managers say. The erector arm is returning to the hangar.

1345 GMT (9:45 a.m. EDT)

The weather conditions at the launch site are reported to be acceptable for flight today. The temperature is 80 degrees F, winds are from the east at 3.1 meters/sec and the seas are running 1.3 meters.

1341 GMT (9:41 a.m. EDT)

The countdown is reaching a major milestone as the transporter/erector arm is retracted from against the rocket. The arm was used earlier to roll the rocket out of the environmentally-controlled hangar atop the Odyssey platform and to lift the rocket upright. Once the arm is lowered to the platform deck, it will be rolled back into the hangar and the build doors closed for launch.

1338 GMT (9:38 a.m. EDT)

Sea Launch is counting down the final minutes to its flight of the Zenit 3SL rocket carrying the Thuraya 2 spacecraft. Officials report activities at the equator are still proceeding well with no issues being worked. Liftoff remains scheduled for 1356 GMT.

Fueling operations have been completed aboard the Odyssey platform. The vehicle was loaded with kerosene propellant and cryogenic liquid oxygen. The platform was cleared of all workers for this hazardous activity, with all personnel moved to the Sea Launch Commander ship safely positioned about 3.5 miles away.

MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2003

Countdown operations are proceeding in advance of Tuesday's planned launch of the Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket with the Thuraya 2 communications satellite aboard.

The 44-minute launch window opens at 1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT).

After arriving at the Pacific Ocean launch site last week, workers on the Sea Launch Commander control ship and the Odyssey launch platform took part in a series of final tests and preparations for launch. The countdown began at Launch Minus 72 hours. The Zenit 3SL rocket has since been rolled out of its hangar and erected vertically on the Odyssey platform.

SUNDAY, JUNE 8, 2003

The Sea Launch consortium plans to conduct its first mission in a year on Tuesday, boosting a mobile communications satellite into orbit atop the Zenit 3SL rocket from the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The Odyssey launch platform and Assembly and Command Ship, named the Sea Launch Commander, arrived at the launch site in the Pacific late last week. Both vessels anchored themselves in the ocean at a point along the equator at 154 degrees West longitude, southwest of Hawaii. The launch platform's ballast tanks were soon filled with sea water to ensure stability.

The ninth launch of the Zenit 3SL rocket is slated for 1356 GMT (9:56 a.m. EDT) at the opening of a 44-minute launch window. Liftoff will occur from the Odyssey platform, which is a converted Norwegian oil drilling platform. The one-hour, 40-minute launch sequence will place the Thuraya 2 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit of 35,910 by 1,196 km, inclined at 6.3 degrees.

The satellite will maneuver itself into a circular geostationary orbit at 44 degrees East longitude over the equator. It will remain in the inclined orbit of 6.3 degrees.

Thuraya 2 is a GEO-Mobile (GEM) model satellite using the Boeing 702 spacecraft design. It will be operated by Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, of United Arab Emirates, to provide cellular-like voice and data services to 100 nations in the Middle East, Europe, North and Central Africa, and South and Central Asia.

The Thuraya 1 satellite is currently operating in space. It was deployed by Sea Launch in October 2000.