The Sea Launch company has completed its first commercial satellite launch mission. The Boeing-led US/Russian/ Ukrainian/Norwegian consortium fired a Zenit 3SL booster from the Odyssey offshore platform in the mid-Pacific Ocean from 0íN, 154íW on 9 October, carrying the Hughes-built DirecTV 1R communications satellite. The craft reached geostationary orbit about 62min after lift-off.
Sea Launch, which completed a demonstration flight using a dummy satellite last April, has 18 satellites on its order book to launch by 2003, moving it into the commercial launch operators' league, led by Europe's Arianespace and the US-Russian International Launch Services (ILS).
Arianespace has orders to launch 44 satellites, while ILS has 49 commercial and government/military flights scheduled to 2005.
Sea Launch, however, has demonstrated its ability to propel satellites quickly and efficiently using the Odyssey transportable launch platform system and the supporting control centre based on the ship, the Sea Commander.
Meanwhile, ILS is "reinventing" itself, with less emphasis on the basic supply of launchers but more on the way it does business, providing "creative solutions" to customers. Part of this is a "mutual back-up capability" provided by a diverse fleet of Atlas, Proton and Angara boosters.
Source: Flight International