We have had a successful mission with the ILS Proton Rocket, carrying the ViaSat-1 satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for ViaSat. We have had confirmation that the ViaSat-1 satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 12:00am EDT, or 04:00 GMT, 9 hours and 12 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, and then releasing the satellite into transfer orbit.
 

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As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the ViaSat-1 satellite onboard, 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 9 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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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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We had a successful liftoff about 11 minutes ago of the ILS Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the ViaSat-1 satellite onboard. 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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We have liftoff! of the Proton M Breeze M rocket and the ViaSat-1 satellite.

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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 11:43pm EDT or 03:23 GMT. Separation of ViaSat-1 spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 5th burn completion by about 13 minutes.

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Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV) and Spacecraft (SC) processing in building 92A-50 are coming to a close, and the ILV is scheduled to roll to the Breeze M fueling station tomorrow. The weather has been wonderful for the last few days, with daytime temperatures warming back up in to the 70’s. Loral threw a low-key cookout tonight, serving bacon cheeseburgers with all the trimmings at the Cosmos Hotel. After weeks in Baikonur for most, and months in Baikonur for some, it is a much enjoyed taste of home. A closest to the pin golf contest was held, which was won by none other than Loral’s own Bill Galvan.

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