Sea Launch program to orbit next satellite in June
18/05/2006 13:00
WASHINGTON, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - Sea Launch, the world's sole company to orbit satellites from a pad in equatorial waters, will send an American satellite into space in June, the international consortium said Thursday.
Sea Launch said a Russian-made Zenit-3SL carrier rocket would orbit the Galaxy 16 communications satellite.
"Sea Launch is now preparing for the launch of the Galaxy 16 communications satellite, in June," the company said on its Web site. "The 4,640 kg (10,229 lb) Loral 1300-series spacecraft will be the newest member of PanAmSat's Galaxy HD neighborhood. As the replacement for Galaxy 4R, Galaxy 16 will reside at 99 degrees West Longitude."
Sea Launch said Galaxy 16 would "meet the needs of a variety of broadcast customers in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada. Galaxy 16 is the fourth spacecraft Sea Launch will orbit for PanAmSat. While it is designed for a 15-year lifespan, Sea Launch's direct insertion into equatorial orbit is expected to yield additional years of fuel life."
Sea Launch was created in 1995 as a consortium comprising Boeing, Norway's Kvaerner Group, leading Russian spacecraft-maker Energia, and Ukraine's Yuzhnoye design bureau and Yuzhmash production association.
It is the only company to operate launches from a sea platform in the Pacific's equatorial waters, a location that makes it possible to launch heavier payloads than from elsewhere.
Sea Launch made four successful launches in 2005 and one in 2006.
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