Sept. 17, 2008

Payload:
Nimiq 4 communications satellite
Eurostar E3000 bus

Separated spacecraft mass:
Approx. 10,692 lbs (4,850 kg)

Launch Vehicle:
Proton M/Breeze M
Weight at liftoff:  702,000 kg (1,547,000 lbs), including payload
Height: 58.2 m (191 ft)

Launch Date:
Sept. 20 (Baikonur)
Sept. 19 (GMT, North America)

Launch Time:
03:48 Baikonur
21:48 GMT
17:48 EDT

Launch Site:
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launch Pad 39

Launch Customer:
Telesat, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Satellite Manufacturer:
EADS Astrium, France

Launch Vehicle Manufacturer:
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center,
Moscow

Launch Services Provider:
International Launch Services (ILS), Reston, Va.

Satellite Use:
Nimiq 4 has two payloads for Canadian broadcast services. The main payload will provide specialty television and foreign language programming. The second payload has six beams covering Canada for such advanced services as high-definition television. Nimiq satellites are dedicated to the provision of direct-to-home services for Bell TV.

Satellite Statistics:
•32 channels in Ku-band
•8 channels in Ka-band
•Orbital location:  82 degrees West longitude
•Anticipated service life: 15 years

Mission Profile:
The Proton M launch vehicle, utilizing a 5-burn Breeze M mission design, will lift off from Pad 39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with the Nimiq 4 satellite on board. The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent trajectory to place the Breeze M fourth stage and the Nimiq 4 satellite into a suborbital trajectory from which the Breeze M will then place itself and the spacecraft into a low Earth circular parking orbit. Once Nimiq 4 is in the parking orbit, it will be injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit following four additional burns of the Breeze M.

Target Orbit at Separation:
•Apogee: 35,786 km (22,236 miles)
•Perigee:  4,400 km (2,734 miles)
•Inclination: 12.5 degrees

Spacecraft Separation:
Approximately 9 hours, 11 minutes after liftoff

ILS Mission Statistics:
•4th ILS launch of 2008
•47th Proton launch for ILS
•10th Eurostar satellite launched on a Proton

Live Broadcast in North America:                 
Anik F2, transponder 7, C-band, 111.1 degrees West, downlink 3980 MHz (vertical), analog NTSC. Test signals start at 5 p.m. EDT, broadcast around 5:25 p.m.

In Europe:
NSS-7, transponder ENV8/EUH8, Channel AB, Ku-band, 338 degrees East, bandwidth 9 MHz, downlink 11684.5 MHz (horizontal), sym rate 5.632, FEC ¾, digital PAL in the clear.  Test signals start at 21:00 GMT, broadcast around 21:25.

More Information:
Live webcast at www.ilslaunch.com will begin approximately 20 minutes before liftoff.  General mission information and launch status updates are available at the website or on the ILS U.S. domestic Launch Hotline at 1-800-852-4980.