Welcome to the W7 Blog

Welcome to the sixth ILS Proton launch campaign for 2009 – the launch of the Thales Alenia Space-built, W7 satellite for Eutelsat of France. Follow along with the mission team as they prepare for the launch.

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Early Team Arrival and SC Unpack

16 Oct the early team arrived to Area 95 for office setup and to accept the SC processing halls. Main team landed on 19 Oct, allowing the team a few hours of sleep before the Antonov carrying the W7 SC arrived at Yubileiny on 20 Oct. To watch the successful orchestration of the offload appear effortless by our KhSC and ZERKT colleagues is an understatement. Once the SC container was lifted onto the railcar, the thermal control car was connected, and personnel responsible for monitoring the transportation were in place the train was authorized to depart for 92A-50. Before the end of the night, a small team gathered in Hall 101 and 102 to work for offloading the SC container and ground support equipment into Hall 101. 21 Oct the SC container was opened, inspected and then lifted onto the transportation dolly. The SC rolled into 103A to begin health checks. In parallel, KhSC worked to prepare the first, second and third stages of the launch vehicle for mating, which is scheduled to occur on 23 Oct. The payload fairing halves are being cleaned in Hall 101 and the payload adapter, separation system and Breeze-M, currently in Moscow, are to arrive in Baikonur before month end.

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ILS Users’ Conference 2009

International Launch Services (ILS) Hosts 2009 Users’ Conference on October 12-14 in Reston, VA, USA
Updates to the Proton Launch System Mission Planners Guide Presented

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APSCC 2009

International Launch Services (ILS) at the APSCC 2009 Satellite Conference & Exhibition
in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 29-October 1

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End of Another Successful Mission

After the very smooth and successful launch of Nimiq 5 yesterday, the remaining members of the mission team celebrated with an excellent banquet. The kitchen staff have outdone themselves again. The mission team will use the rest of the weekend to pack-up, with the backhaul Antonov on Saturday and the close out of the offices on Sunday morning. Monday morning sees everyone to Moscow. We will miss all of the friends we have a made and renewed over the last six weeks as we head back to our homes in various parts of the United States and the world. We would like to thank and congratulate everyone involved in the Nimiq 5 program for a job well done and the campaign team for an extremely smooth and easy launch campaign. Three times seems to be a charm for Space System/Loral campaigns. Congratulations!

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ILS Proton Successfully Launches Nimiq 5 Satellite

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan, September 18, 2009 –International Launch Services (ILS), a world leader in providing mission and launch services to the commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the Nimiq 5 satellite into orbit today on an ILS Proton for Telesat, the fourth largest fixed satellite services operator worldwide. This was the fifth commercial mission of the year for ILS and the seventh successful Proton launch of 2009. With the launch of Nimiq 5 today, ILS has launched half of Telesat’s operational fleet.

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Nimiq 5 Stage Separations

We had a successful liftoff about 12 minutes ago of our Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the Nimiq 5 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 7 minutes.

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Nimiq 5 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 confirmation of the second burn.

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Nimiq 5 Second Burn Completion

As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the Nimiq 5 satellite, we have received confirmation that the 2nd burn of the upper stage occurred and shut down as scheduled. The next events are scheduled for about 2 hours from now. The Breeze M upper stage will ignite for a 3rd time and burn for approximately 14 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned, and the 4th burn will start and complete. All this will happen in a span of almost 20 minutes while the vehicle is again out of range of a ground station. We should reacquire the vehicle shortly after the 4th burn ends.

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Nimiq 5 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 to start around 12:12 AM EDT, or 04:12 GMT. Separation of the Nimiq 5 spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 5th burn completion by about 15 minutes.

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