We had a successful liftoff about 20 minutes ago of our Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite. The three stages of the Proton vehicle have performed as planned, and it is up to the Breeze M upper stage to complete the mission. The upper stage has begun its first burn, which is scheduled to last around 8 minutes. The vehicle, however, is out of range of a receiving station and we will not re-establish contact for another hour and 10 minutes. At that time we expect to receive confirmation of both the first and second burns.
18 Aug 2008