29 Sep 2008

Hello From Baikonur

Welcome again to ASTRA 1M’s blog. It is mid-morning on 23 September and airplanes are landing in Moscow from all directions, bringing in the ASTRA 1M early team. There are several first-timers and lots of familiar faces. After some brief introductions, a small group of first-timers made their way to see Red Square via a train and subway ride. Thank you to, team member, Pete for being a terrific tour guide.
We got word early 24 September that we have a green light to Go! So the early team got on the charter flight for Baikonur and the start of the ASTRA 1M campaign.

READ MORE

25 Sep 2008

News 092508

Proton Successfully Launches Back-to-Back Missions

From Khrunichev Press Release

READ MORE

23 Sep 2008

The End of Another Successful Mission

After a great launch, with a great team, we are now at the conclusion of our mission. All team members scheduled to come home have already left on the departure charter and we look forward to seeing them back in the office. Thanks to everyone who followed along with the blog. Dont forget, a new mission is just right around the corner.

READ MORE

20 Sep 2008

Mission Successful!

We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the Nimiq 4 satellite built by EADS Astrium for Telesat. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 3:00 am Eastern time, or 7:00 am GMT, 9 hours and 11 minutes after liftoff. Everything occurred as planned with ignition, shutdown and separation of the Proton’s first three stages. Then the Breeze M upper stage with the satellite continued the mission, igniting five times, then releasing the satellite into transfer orbit.

READ MORE

20 Sep 2008

Third and Fourth Burn Completion

We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its 3rd & 4th burns, as well as jettisoning its additional propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 5th burn is scheduled for before 3:00 a.m. Eastern time, or 7:00 a.m. GMT. Separation of the Nimiq 4 spacecraft is scheduled to follow that by about 20 minutes.

READ MORE

19 Sep 2008

First Burn Completion

We have received confirmation of completion of the first burn. The vehicle is now scheduled to be out of range for about an hour, after which we will hear confimation of the second burn.

READ MORE

19 Sep 2008

Stage Separations

We had a successful liftoff about 15 minutes ago of our Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the Nimiq 4 satellite. The three stages of the Proton vehicle have performed as planned, and it is up to the Breeze M upper stage to complete the mission. The upper stage has begun its first burn, which is scheduled to last around 8 minutes.

READ MORE

Contact Us!

For the latest news and information, or if you have a question, please email ILS at contactus@ilslaunch.com