The Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite. We have received confirmation that the 1st and 2nd burns of the upper stage occurred and shut down as scheduled. The next events are scheduled for around 2 hours from now. The Breeze M upper stage will ingite for a 3rd time and burn about 10 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned, and the 4th burn will start. All this will happen in a span of about 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.
19 Aug 2008