International Launch Services (ILS) carried a US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) satellite into a 270km (160 miles) by 37,445km geostationary transfer orbit on an Atlas IIAS booster from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 5 December.
The launch, of what is believed to be a communications relay satellite transmitting data from reconnaissance spacecraft to Earth, was the 14th by ILS using Atlas and Proton boosters this year. The NRO satellite was originally to have flown on an Atlas IIIA.
ILS has $3 billion of launch business outstanding, having gained 17 firm launch contracts and 17 options this year.
On 30 November, an ILS Proton DM booster was launched from Baikonur carrying Sirius 3, the third satellite owned and operated by Sirius Satellite Radio. It will provide 100 channels of music, news, sports and business programming directly to cars across the USA next year.
This latest Proton booster launch by ILS and the Russian Government is expected to be followed by the inaugural Proton Breeze M mission later this month.
• The US State Department will resume the processing of licences for launching US-built satellites aboard Chinese launchers and will extend the bilateral agreement that established a quota of 20 launches through next year.
Only seven of the 20 launches had been conducted before a ban on export licences for US-built satellites was imposed due to technology transfer fears.
Source: Flight International