We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the Intelsat 16 satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corporation. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 5:14 a.m. EST, or 10:14 GMT, 9 hours and 34 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 near-stationary orbit.
11 Feb 2010