July 28, 2006
Payload: HOT BIRD 8
Eurostar E3000 platform
Separated Mass: Approx. 4,875 kg (10,748 lbs)
Launch Vehicle: Proton M/Breeze M
Weight at liftoff: 691,272 kg (1.5 million lbs), including payload
Height: 61 m (200 ft)
Launch Time: 3:48 a.m. Aug. 5 Baikonur
21:48 Aug. 4 GMT
5:48 p.m. Aug. 4 EDT
Launch Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launch Pad 39
End User: EUTELSAT, Paris
Satellite
Manufacturer: EADS Space, Toulouse, France
Launch Vehicle
Manufacturer: Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Moscow
Launch Services Provider:
International Launch Services (ILS), McLean, Va.
Satellite Use: Multipurpose Ku-band communications satellite serving cable and satellite homes in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, including Russia and Kazakhstan.
Satellite Statistics:
64 active Ku-band transponders
Largest satellite to date in Eutelsat fleet
Orbital location: 13 degrees East longitude
Anticipated service life of 15 years
Mission Profile:
The Proton launch vehicle will inject the satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, using a five-burn Breeze M mission design. The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent trajectory to place the Breeze M fourth stage, with the satellite, into a suborbital trajectory, from which the Breeze M will place itself and the spacecraft into a circular parking orbit of 173 km (107.5 miles), inclined at 51.5 degrees. Then the satellite will be propelled to its transfer orbit by additional burns of the Breeze M. Following separation from the Breeze M, the spacecraft will perform a series of liquid apogee engine burns to raise perigee, lower inclination and circularize the orbit at the geostationary altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 miles).
Target Orbit
at Separation: Apogee: 35,786 km (22,236 mi)
Perigee: 3,800 km (2,361 mi)
Inclination: 13 degrees
Spacecraft
Separation: Approximately 9 hours, 11 minutes after liftoff
ILS Mission
Statistics:
2nd ILS Proton mission of 2006
4th ILS mission overall for 2006
6th Proton launch of Eurostar bus
37th ILS mission on Proton
Live Broadcast
in North
America: Satellite IA-6, 93 degrees West, transponder 11, C-band, analog NTSC,
downlink 3920 MHz (vertical)
Test signals start at 5 p.m. EDT
Live Broadcast
in Europe &
Middle East: HOT BIRD 3, 13 degrees East, Transponder 70, Channel 701, Ku-band, digital PAL, downlink 12,111 MHz (vertical), symbol rate 27.5 Ms, fec: 3/4
Test signals start at 21:00 GMT
More
Information: Live webcast and general mission information are available on the ILS web site at [https://www.ilslaunch.com www.ilslaunch.com]. Launch status updates are available on the ILS U.S. domestic Launch Hotline at 1-800-852-4980.
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