Please check out the [url=assets/pdf/The-Beam-Spring-2010-pgs-14-18.pdf]Baikonur Diary [/url] written by Edgar Villongco, Vice President, Market Communications at SES WORLD SKIES

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One of the Astrium personnel (Maxime) happens to be a volunteer fireman in France and he aspires to become a professional fireman. At his request, we arranged a visit to the local Fire Station located between bldg 92A-50 and our hotel area. Maxime had a desire to see the station, meet the Russian crew, and exchange crew T-shirts with them. The visit took place on 7 May and it easily exceeded our collective expectations. The Fire Chief greeted us and gave us a comprehensive tour of the station and all of their firefighting equipment. Throughout the tour, Maxime was able to ask many questions as he compared firefighting in France with firefighting in Baikonur. There are several young ladies at the station that were quite eager to have their picture taken alongside Maxime. The station itself is very impressive with a crew of 80. They are rightfully proud of their equipment and station, both of which are well-maintained and immaculate. Without our asking, the crew even conducted a fire drill for us, demonstrating how fast they can be ready to respond to an actual fire emergency (trucks rolling with sirens on). To top things off, after exchanging T-shirts, Maxime was outfitted in full Russian firefighting gear for a very warm photo opportunity. Overall, it was a very nice international exchange of good will.

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We have had a successful mission with the Proton M Breeze M rocket, carrying the SES-1 satellite built by Orbital Sciences Corporation for SES WORLD SKIES. We have had confirmation that the satellite separated from the vehicle on schedule at 16:17 EDT, or 20:17 GMT, 8 hours and 58 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 transfer orbit.

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We have confirmed that the Breeze M upper stage has successfully completed its 3rd burn, as well as jettisoning its auxilliary propellant tank. The vehicle is now in a 5-hour coast period, during which we will have nothing to report. The 4th burn is scheduled to start around 3:51 p.m. EDT, or 19:51 GMT. Separation of the SES-1 spacecraft is scheduled to follow the 4th burn completion by about 14 minutes.

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As the Breeze M upper stage of our Proton M rocket continues its climb into space with the SES-1 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 approximately 20 minutes; after that the additional propellant tank will be jettisoned. All this will happen while the vehicle is again out of range of a ground station. We should reacquire the vehicle shortly after the APT is jettisoned.

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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 SES-1 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 SES-1 satellite.

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.. or rather, putting it all together. We’ve been busy the last several days mating the SC to the adapter, mating the SC/Adapter to the Breeze M, encapsulating the whole assembly, and today, we mated them all with the Proton. We now have an integrated launch vehicle! We will perform some testing tomorrow, then it’s onto the Breeze M filling station and then the pad. On Tuesday, the SES customer gave us a taste from home – Bacon Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches. The American team loved them (I personally had 2), and the Russian team members had a sample of a uniquely American dish. As we like to say, bacon makes everything better.

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The SES and Orbital Sciences Corporation teams here are happy to report, the SES-1 spacecraft successfully completed its standalone testing – one of the first major hurdles to getting to launch. After standalone testing finished, the Propellant team from Orbital Sciences, with support from ILS and KhSC, filled the SES-1 spacecraft with hydrazine propellant. This potentially hazardous operation was safely completed yesterday, paving the way for joint operations to begin today, 11 April. This is the next phase of the campaign, where we start mating the various components together to make the integrated launch vehicle.

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