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AMC-21 satellite to fly on Land Launch SES GLOBAL NEWS RELEASE Posted: June 1, 2006 SES GLOBAL announces that it has contracted with the Sea Launch Company for a mission on its Land Launch system, to send the AMC-21 spacecraft into orbit in mid-2008. Land Launch will use a Zenit-3SLB vehicle to launch the AMC-21 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Land Launch site at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Both the satellite and the launch vehicle will be integrated and launched from the Zenit processing and launch facilities at the Baikonur complex. Optimizing on heritage hardware, systems and expertise, Land Launch uses a Zenit-3SLB version of the reliable Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket. Weighing about 2,500 kilograms at launch, AMC-21 is being manufactured by Alcatel Alenia Space. The satellite will be built on the small-sized spacecraft platform STAR-2 of Orbital Sciences Corporation. AMC-21 will feature 24 Ku-band transponders, operate from orbital location of 125° West, and provide coverage of the United States and the Caribbean. The satellite will be operated and marketed by SES AMERICOM. States Dany Harel, VP, Space Systems and Operations at SES AMERICOM, "SES is pleased to add Land Launch to the roster of its launch services providers and is confident that the robust Zenit-3SLB booster, in combination with Sea Launch's outstanding expertise in innovative launch solutions, will be instrumental to the success of the AMC-21 mission." "We are delighted to be launching the AMC-21 satellite for SES," said Rob Peckham, interim president and general manager for Sea Launch. "This contract is a strong demonstration of our reputation for meeting our customers' requirements and supporting their business goals. We look forward to honoring the confidence SES has entrusted in Sea Launch and to building a long-term relationship with their world-class team." AMC-21 will be the first satellite of an SES company to use a Land Launch. AsiaSat, an SES affiliated company, has contracted with Sea Launch for AsiaSat-5 satellite, which is being built by Space Systems/Loral, to be launched in late 2008 on Land Launch. SES GLOBAL (Euronext Paris, Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) wholly owns three market-leading satellite operators, SES ASTRA in Europe, SES AMERICOM in the US and New Skies Satellites in regions other than North America and Europe. The Company also holds strategic participations in AsiaSat in Asia, Star One in Latin America, SES Sirius in Europe, Ciel in Canada and Quetzsat in Mexico. Americom Government Services provides network solutions and bandwidth to the US government and its contractors. SES GLOBAL provides outstanding satellite communications solutions via a fleet of 43 satellites across the globe. Land Launch is based on the collaboration of the Sea Launch Company and Space International Services (SIS), both international companies, to meet the launch needs of an emerging market for dedicated commercial launches in the medium spacecraft mass range. Sea Launch and SIS provide commercial customers with mission management. SIS is also responsible for hardware production and launch operations. |
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Space shuttle Columbia began mission STS-61C with a beautiful sunrise launch in January 1986 after several delays. Led by commander Hoot Gibson, the astronauts deployed a commercial communications satellite and tended to numerous experiments with the Materials Science Laboratory, Hitchhiker platform and Getaway Special Canisters in the payload bay. The crew included Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida, the first U.S. Representative to fly in space. Watch this post-flight film narrated by the astronauts.
The Boeing Delta 4 rocket launches from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the GOES-N spacecraft, beginning a new era in weather observing for the Americas.
As night fell over Kennedy Space Center on May 19, space shuttle Discovery reached launch pad 39B to complete the slow journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery will be traveling much faster in a few weeks when it blasts off to the International Space Station.
The November 1985 flight of space shuttle Atlantis began with a rare nighttime blastoff. The seven-member crew, including a Mexican payload specialist, spent a week in orbit deploying three communications satellites for Australia, Mexico and the U.S. And a pair of high-visibility spacewalks were performed to demonstrate techniques for building large structures in space. The crew narrates the highlights of STS-61B in this post-flight crew film presentation.
Eight astronauts, the largest crew in history, spent a week in space during the fall of 1985 aboard shuttle Challenger for mission STS-61A, the first flight dedicated to the German Spacelab. The crew worked in the Spacelab D-1 laboratory conducting a range of experiments, including a quick-moving sled that traveled along tracks in the module. A small satellite was ejected from a canister in the payload bay as well. The astronauts narrate the highlights of the mission in this post-flight film.