International Launch Services has declared today's launch of the Eutelsat 3D communications satellite a success.

"Everything occurred as planned with ignition, shutdown and separation of the Proton's first three stages. Then the Breeze M upper stage with the Eutelsat 3D satellite aboard continued the mission, igniting five times, and finally releasing the satellite into transfer orbit," ILS said in a statement posted on its website.

The spacecraft deployed as scheduled at 0115 GMT (9:15 p.m. EDT), concluding a 9-hour flight since the Proton rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan at 1602 GMT (12:02 p.m. EDT).

It is the third straight success for the Proton/Breeze M since December, when a rocket failure placed a Russian satellite in the wrong orbit.

The next ILS launch is another Proton/Breeze M flight June 3 launching the SES 6 communications satellite.

International Launch Services confirms the completion of the Breeze M's third burn, a successful jettison of the stage's auxiliary propellant tank, and a good fourth burn.

The Breeze M and Eutelsat 3D should now be in a transfer orbit with a low point of 262 miles, a high point of 22,189 miles, and an inclination of 49.1 degrees.

The upper stage will coast for nearly 5 hours before igniting a fifth and final time to inject Eutelsat 3D into geostationary transfer orbit.

Separation of the Eutelsat 3D satellite is scheduled for 0115 GMT (9:15 p.m. EDT).

The Breeze M upper stage has finished the second of five burns planned for today's mission, ILS says. The nearly 18-minute burn was supposed to place the stage and Eutelsat 3D in an intermediate orbit with a low point of 167 miles, a high point of 3,106 miles and an inclination of 50.3 degrees.

After a two-hour coast, the Breeze M will ignite its main engine again at about 1930 GMT (3:30 p.m. EDT) for two back-to-back burns separated by a brief intermission to jettison the stage's auxiliary propellant tank.

ILS says the first Breeze M burn is complete, and the rocket is now in a coast phase until ignition of the second upper stage burn at about 1709 GMT (1:09 p.m. EDT).

T+plus 14 minutes. International Launch Services confirms the Breeze M upper stage has ignited for the first of five burns in this mission. The first burn is designed to accelerate the rocket and payload from a suborbital trajectory into a low-altitude parking orbit.

T+plus 11 minutes, 15 seconds. Officials confirm successful shutdown of the Proton's third stage and separation of the Breeze M upper stage, which should soon ignite for the first of five burns.

This first burn should last about four-and-a-half minutes, placing the Breeze M and Eutelsat 3D in a circular parking orbit 110 miles high with an inclination of 51.5 degrees.

T+plus 7 minutes, 30 seconds. Proton's second stage has separated, and the third stage RD-0213 engine has begun its burn. The rocket's payload fairing has also been released now that the launcher is in the upper atmosphere.

T+plus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. The second stage's RD-0211 main engine and RD-0210 vernier engines continue firing as the rocket appears as a brilliant moving star in the evening sky over Kazakhstan.

T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The Proton's first stage has shut down and jettisoned, and the second stage engines are firing with a half-million pounds of thrust.

T+plus 70 seconds. The Proton rocket has passed the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

Liftoff of the Proton rocket carrying the Eutelsat 3D communications satellite to serve Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

T-minus 60 seconds. Ignition of the six first stage RD-276 engines occurs at T-minus 1.75 seconds, followed by a quick health check before committing to liftoff.

T-minus 2 minutes. The countdown is being run by a master computer sequencer.

T-minus 5 minutes. The weather conditions are Baikonur are reported to be ideal, with clear skies just after sunset. The temperature is between 72 degrees and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with east winds at about 11 mph.

T-minus 8 minutes. The readiness of the Proton core vehicle, the Breeze M upper stage and Eutelsat 3D will be verified over the next few minutes.

T-minus 10 minutes. The Proton launcher on the pad weighs about 1.5 million pounds, and it will be powered into the sky by six first stage RD-276 engines producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust.

The Eutelsat 3D satellite weighs 12,059 pounds at liftoff. Eutelsat 3D was transitioned to internal power a few minutes ago.

T-minus 15 minutes. Dusk is falling over the Baikonur Cosmodrome as the final launch pad workers evacuate to a safe distance away from the rocket.

With 30 minutes left in the countdown, everything remains on schedule for launch at 1602 GMT (12:02 p.m. EDT; 10:02 p.m. Baikonur time). It will take more than 9 hours to deploy Satmex 8 in the proper orbit.

The Proton rocket's first stage will blast off powered by six RD-276 engines producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust. The 191-foot-tall launcher will ascend northeast from Baikonur, dropping its first stage 2 minutes after liftoff, giving way to the Proton's second stage RD-0211 main engine for a three-and-a-half minute burn.

The Proton's third stage, using a RD-0213 main engine with 131,000 pounds of thrust, next will fire for about four minutes. Separation of the 13.1-foot-diameter nose cone occurs during the third stage burn at T+plus 5 minutes, 27 seconds.

The Breeze M upper stage will assume control at T+plus 9 minutes, 42 seconds, when it separates from the Proton's third stage. Five Breeze M engine burns are planned over a 9-hour period to inject Eutelsat 3D in the proper geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Liftoff of the Proton rocket is 30 minutes away. This will be the:

• 386th Proton rocket launch since 1965
• 80th International Launch Services Proton since 1996
• 65th Proton M using a Breeze M upper stage since 2001
• 9th Thales Alenia Space satellite on ILS Proton
• 7th Eutelsat satellite on ILS Proton
• 3rd Proton of 2013

The launch pad gantry has moved away from the Proton rocket at Baikonur, revealing the silver booster as the countdown is inside the final hour until liftoff.

The Proton rocket and Breeze M upper stage are fully fueled with liquid hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants as dusk falls on the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where it is currently 9:05 p.m. local time.

Russia's Proton rocket will blast off Tuesday with a satellite for Eutelsat to beam video, data and broadband programming to Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The 12,059-pound Eutelsat 3D satellite is bound for a position in geosynchronous orbit at 3 degrees east longitude, but it will take more than 9 hours for the Proton rocket's Breeze M upper stage to release the spacecraft.

Then the satellite has several weeks of maneuvers and testing before it reaches its operational position, where it will begin a planned 15-year service life.

Liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome is set for 1602 GMT (12:02 p.m. EDT), or 10:02 p.m. local time at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The mission is managed by Khrunichev, the Proton's Russian contractor, and International Launch Services, the U.S.-based firm overseeing commercial sales of the Proton launcher.

Built by Thales Alenia Space, the Eutelsat 3D satellite arrived at Baikonur from Toulouse, France, in mid-April. Technicians finished testing the satellite and filled its tanks for propellant before attaching it to the rocket's Breeze M upper stage, encapsulating it in the Proton's 13.1-foot-diameter payload fairing, and attaching the payload to the launcher.

The rocket reached the launch pad Saturday on a train, then it was hoisted vertical with hydraulic help and enshrouded in the launch complex mobile gantry.

See video and photos of the rollout.

The rocket's three core stages will be loaded with hypergolic propellant in the hours before launch, followed by removal of the servicing gantry about two hours before liftoff.

A computer-controlled countdown sequence will manage the final steps before liftoff.

The Proton rocket will fire its six RD-276 engines at blast off atop nearly 2.5 million pounds of thrust, racing into the sky, surpassing the speed of sound and exhausting its first stage propellant supply in two minutes.

The launcher's second and third stages will fire to accelerate the Breeze M upper stage and Eutelsat 3D to nearly orbital velocity, then the upper stage will take over to inject itself in a low-altitude parking orbit.

The first of the Breeze M's five engine burns will end about 16 minutes after liftoff. Four more burns over the next few hours will raise the satellite's altitude and reduce its orbital inclination.

Separation of Eutelsat 3D is scheduled for 0115 GMT (9:15 p.m. EDT).

The target orbit has a low point of 4,147 miles, a high point of 22,180 miles and an inclination of 17.5 degrees, according to ILS.

After separation, Eutelsat 3D will be activated and guided by ground controllers and on-board computers to its final destination - a circular 22,300-mile orbit over the equator.