Welcome to the third ILS Proton launch campaign for 2008 – the launch of the EADS Astrium-built Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite for Inmarsat of London. Follow along with the launch team as they prepare for the mid-August mission.
The ILS launch team has settled in at Baikonur. Team members report that they celebrated Independence Day by reading Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence on the way to Yubileiny Airport at 0800 to offload the satellite test equipment, and then working until 1830. They had a picnic the following day to commemorate the holiday. Meanwhile, the spacecraft has landed! Early Sunday morning the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite arrived at Yubileiny Airport aboard an AN-124-100 Ruslan aircraft owned by Russia’s Polyet cargo airlines. The satellite was taken to Building 92A-50 for assembly and testing. Everything else is going up to par, as well. Pictures soon, as well as some first-hand reports from the launch team…
McLEAN, Va., and LONDON, July 1, 2008 – International Launch Services (ILS) has scheduled its next Proton Breeze M commercial mission for August 14 (August 13 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the launch of the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite.
McLEAN, Va., June 30, 2008 – International Launch Services (ILS), a leading provider of launch services to the commercial satellite industry, will relocate this weekend to Reston Town Center from its current headquarters in Tysons Corner.
MOSCOW, June 16, 2008 – The Failure Review Oversight Board (FROB) convened by International Launch Services (ILS) has cleared the Proton Breeze M to return to flight this summer, following its examination of test results and analysis regarding a redesigned engine component.
Read a detailed interview about the Khrunichev Quality Initiative here at SatelliteTODAY.com**
**Although the article is free, registration is required.
MOSCOW, April 24, 2008 – Khrunichev Space Center and its partner International Launch Services today announced a broad-based quality initiative for Khrunichev and all of its subcontractors. “This will reinforce our dedication to quality across the board, ensure we improve our performance and enhance our position as a leading space company,” said Vladimir Nesterov, Khrunichev General Director.
MOSCOW, April 21, 2008 – The Russian State Commission investigating the AMC-14 failure of a Proton Breeze M launch has traced the cause to the rupture of the gas duct between the gas generator and the propellant pump turbine in the Breeze M main engine.
