The Proton rocket launches with EchoStar 8. Photos: ILS TV/Spaceflight Now

Just seven hours after its inaugural flight of the Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, International Launch Services delivered a direct-to-home television broadcasting satellite into orbit using a Russian Proton vehicle.

Liftoff took place at 0515 GMT (1:15 a.m. EDT) from pad 23 at launch complex 81 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Within 10 minutes, the Proton's three stages had done their job, placing the Block DM upper stage and the EchoStar 8 satellite on a suborbital trajectory.

Shortly after separating from the third stage, the upper stage roared to life for a little over a minute to achieve a stable circular orbit 100 miles high.

The Block DM fired twice more to place EchoStar 8 into the intended egg-shaped geostationary transfer orbit. The spacecraft separated 6-1/2 hours after launch.

"Proton's reliability is legendary, and we're proud to celebrate another successful mission," said ILS President Mark Albrecht.

EchoStar 8 will gradually circularize its orbit to the geosynchronous altitude of 22,300 miles before beginning checkout activities over the next few months. The craft will guide itself into a slot at 110 degrees West, where it will appear to hover over the equator above the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Operating for EchoStar Communications, EchoStar 8 will provide Ku-band and spot beam services to over 7 million customers across the United States that use the company's DISH Network direct-to-home broadcast system via small satellite dishes that are familiar to many.

The satellite will allow EchoStar to ramp up its local television programming in key markets across the country. This eighth spacecraft in the Littleton, Colorado-based company's fleet will also serve in a backup position should another satellite experience problems.

EchoStar 8's communications payload is designed to operate in five different modes that can support both national and spot beams for regional and local programming. With 4.6 kilowatts of total transmit power, the high-powered EchoStar 8 will enable DISH Network to fully launch its long-awaited local television channels.

The 10,270-pound spacecraft -- built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, California -- features four communications reflectors and two solar panels that will stretch 102 feet from tip-to-tip when deployed. The bus is based on Loral's FS1300 design. EchoStar expects the craft to enter operational service by the end of this year to begin a minimum lifetime of about 15 years.

The Proton blastoff marked the end of a remarkable day for ILS, the joint U.S./Russian venture between Lockheed Martin, Proton-builder Krunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and RSC Energia to market Atlas and Proton rockets worldwide.

The EchoStar 8 launch was originally scheduled for June 22 but had to be scrubbed just hours before liftoff because of a faulty command receiver on the satellite. Then Tuesday's countdown was halted inside the final half-hour because high-altitude winds were too strong for launch. The winds also forced cancellation of Wednesday's opportunity.

The delays in turn created a launch double-header for ILS' two rocket families. The back-to-back launches set a record for the launch provider, surpassing its previous mark of 9 hours established in June 2000.