As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the BADR-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 one hour from now. The Breeze M upper stage will ignite for a 3rd time and burn for approximately 12 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned and the fourth burn will start and burn for approximately 5 minutes. All this will happen while the vehicle is again out of range of a ground station. We should reacquire the vehicle shortly after the APT is jettisoned.
03 Jun 2010