THE BOEING-LED Sea Launch joint venture, has been assigned its first satellite payload the Hughes Communications Galaxy 11, which is scheduled to be launched in June 1998. The launch will also carry the first Hughes HS-702 spacecraft bus.
Boeing is joined on the $500 million programme by Ukrainian companies NPO Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, providing the Zenit boosters and by Russia's RSC-Energia, which will build a third stage. Boeing will assemble the project and process satellite payloads at its site at Long Beach, California, where ground- breaking ceremonies were performed on 8 August.
The launches are to be from a 31,000t, converted semi-submersible offshore platform, being built by Kvaener of Norway, the other Sea Launch partner. It will be located on, or close to, the equator in the Pacific, south of Hawaii.
The Galaxy 11 is the first of ten satellites to be assigned Sea Launch flights by Hughes Space and Communications through to 2002. The new HS-702 craft offers almost twice the capacity, with up to 90 transponders and, at 15kW, more than double the power.
Space Systems/Loral has also purchased five launches of communications satellites, starting in 1998 and continuing to 2001. The 15 booked launches are worth $1 billion. Up to 90 launches could take place by 2010, if the target of six to eight launches a year can be met. The Sea Launch can place a maximum 6,900kg into geostationary-transfer orbit (GTO), which is the highest capability offered by launchers in the market, although, operationally, a 5,700kg capability is more likely.
By comparison, the Arianespace Ariane 44L has a 4,750kg capacity and its successor, the Ariane 5 will be marketed as a dual-satellite launcher with a 5,900kg capability to GTO.
Source: Flight International
