We have had a successful mission with the ILS Proton Rocket, carrying the EchoStar XVI satellite built by Space Systems/Loral for EchoStar. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 10:43pm EST, or 03:43 GMT, 9 hours and 12 minute 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.