A high-definition television broadcasting satellite for Latin America will take an out-of-this-world ride to orbit aboard a Proton rocket overnight Thursday.

The Proton rocket rolls to the launch pad Monday morning. Credit: Khrunichev

The 5,401-pound Intelsat 16 satellite, now enclosed inside the Proton's nose cone, will spend up to 16 years providing HDTV news, sports and entertainment for SKY Mexico and SKY Brazil, local broadcasting subsidaries of DirecTV.

Built by Orbital Sciences Corp., Intelsat 16 carries 24 Ku-band transponders and two deployable antennas for its communications mission. The craft will be operated by Intelsat on behalf of SKY Mexico and SKY Brazil.

Intelsat 16 will double SKY Mexico's current capacity and serve as a backup for the SKY Brazil network.

After final processing and fueling, the spacecraft was bolted to its Proton rocket and Breeze M upper stage. On Monday, the rocket moved to pad 39 at Area 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and was lifted upright for final preflight checks.

The 184-foot-tall launcher is scheduled to blast off at 0039 GMT Thursday (7:39 p.m. EST Friday).

With six hydrazine-fueled main engines delivering about 2 million pounds of thrust, the Proton will soar east from Baikonur, dropping its first stage just over 2 minutes after liftoff. The second stage burn will last about 3 minutes, 27 seconds, according to International Launch Services, the U.S.-based commercial provider of Proton rockets.

The Proton rocket stands on its launch pad. Credit: Roscosmos

The rocket will jettison the second stage at T+plus 5 minutes, 30 seconds, and release its nose cone protecting Intelsat 16 at T+plus 5 minutes, 44 seconds. The Proton's single third stage engine will burn for about 4 minutes, and then yield to the Breeze M upper stage for its first burn beginning at T+plus 11 minutes, 17 seconds, to put Intelsat 16 in a circular parking orbit about 120 miles high.

Three more Breeze M engine firings are planned early Friday to guide Intelsat 16 to a circular near-geosynchronous orbit with an altitude of about 23,412 miles and an inclination of zero degrees, according to ILS.

Intelsat 16's relatively low launch mass allows the hefty Proton to haul the spacecraft nearly all the way to its final orbital perch. This saves propellant aboard the satellite, which will extend its expected mission life.

Spacecraft separation is scheduled for 1013 GMT (5:13 a.m. EST) Friday.

Intelsat 16 will be stationed in an operational orbit over the equator at 58 degrees west longitude, in range of customer ground terminals across North America and South America.

Thursday's launch will be the first commercial Proton flight of 2010.

Intelsat 16 was originally booked on a Land Launch Zenit rocket, but financial trouble and delivery delays with that provider forced a booster switch.