BADR-5 Main Team and SC Arrival

With the Main Team arrival, our ranks have gone from 18 to 46 people. After a short 12 hours of preliminary safety briefings, greeting old friends and introductions of future friends, we went out to the airport to watch the arrival of the spacecraft. It was close to a perfect day for an offload; sunny with some clouds, a light wind and a temperature of about 80 degrees. It’s hard to believe that we needed jackets just a few days ago for the EGSE arrival. It is always an amazing sight to see the Antonov aircraft in action and today was no different. While watching the offload of the spacecraft it appears that the Antonov may have been the original prototype for the “Transformers”. For those of you who have not seen an Antonov, check out the movie 2012. It is the plane that takes the hero to China.

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BADR-5 Early Team and EGSE Arrival

The BADR-5 Early Team finally arrived in Baikonur. We are getting settled in and ready for our June launch. The next day, the unpacking started with Astrium’s EGSE (Electrical Ground Support Equipment) which arrived via an Iluyshin aircraft. It was the first time several of us had seen an Iluyshin. Despite being cool and windy, the offload went smoothly.

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SES-1 Mission Success!

We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the SES-1 satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corporation for SES WORLD SKIES. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 16:17 EDT, or 20:17 GMT, 8 hours and 58 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 four times, and then releasing the satellite into transfer orbit.

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SES-1 Third Burn Completion

We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its 3rd burn, as well as jettisoning its auxilliary propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 4th burn is scheduled to start around 3:51 p.m. EDT, or 19:51 GMT. Separation of the SES-1 spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 4th burn completion by about 14 minutes.

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SES-1 Second Burn Completion

As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the SES-1 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 20 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned. 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.

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SES-1 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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SES-1 Stage Separations

We had a successful liftoff about 11 minutes ago of our Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the SES-1 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 4 minutes.

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Fill’er up part 2

It’s been a busy few days here, so we have been limited in our ability to enjoy the nice weather. We completed the assembly of the Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV), and then moved it to the Breeze M fueling station where it was filled with propellants. This morning, promptly at 0630, we rolled the vehicle to the pad and placed it in launch position. The next few days will be filled with completing checkouts of the Proton, Breeze M upper stage and SES-1 SC, as well as rehearsals for launch day. The team did take some time out to enjoy a Moscow circus that came to town. One of the ILS employees even got a chance to pet a Puma while having a monkey on his back!

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Pulling it all together

.. or rather, putting it all together. We’ve been busy the last several days mating the SC to the adapter, mating the SC/Adapter to the Breeze M, encapsulating the whole assembly, and today, we mated them all with the Proton. We now have an integrated launch vehicle! We will perform some testing tomorrow, then it’s onto the Breeze M filling station and then the pad. On Tuesday, the SES customer gave us a taste from home – Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches. The American team loved them (I personally had 2), and the Russian team members had a sample of a uniquely American dish. As we like to say, bacon makes everything better.

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