We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the ASTRA 2E satellite built by Astrium for SES. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 2:50 AM Eastern Time, or 06:50 GMT, 9 hours and 12 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 five times, and then releasing the satellite into transfer orbit.

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We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its third and fourth burns, as well as jettisoning its additional propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 5th burn is scheduled to start around 2:31  Eastern time, or 06:31 GMT, and last for approximately 6 minutes. Separation of the ASTRA 2E spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 5th burn completion by about  that by about 13 minutes.

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As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the ASTRA 2E satellite, we have received confirmation that the 2nd burn of the upper stage occurred and shut down as scheduled.
The next events are scheduled for about  2 hours from now. The Breeze M upper stage will ignite for a 3rd time and burn for about 11 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 15 minutes while the vehicle is again out of range of a ground station. We should reacquire the vehicle shortly after the 4th burn ends.

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We have received confirmation of completion of the first burn. The vehicle is now scheduled to be out of range for about an hour, after which we will hear confirmation of the second burn.

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We had a successful liftoff about 11 minutes ago of our Proton M Breeze M rocket, which is carrying the ASTRA2E 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 4 minutes.

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We have liftoff! of the Proton M Breeze M rocket and the ASTRA 2E satellite.

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It seems like summer has returned with a vengeance in Baikonur, with daytime temperatures being in the 90s for the last few days. We’ve all been working hard since the start of joint operations, so it will be nice to have our first joint BBQ tomorrow with our customers and the Khrunichev, and manufacturer teams. Everyone looks forward to tri-tip, ribs and all the usual BBQ fare!

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