Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Orbital-built Intelsat 15 communications satellite launched successfully

DULLES, USA: Orbital Sciences Corp., one of the world’s leading space technology companies, announced that the Intelsat 15 (IS-15) satellite, built by the company for Intelsat Ltd, was successfully launched into orbit aboard a Land Launch Zenit-3 rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The mission, which took place yesterday, November 30, began with the lift-off of the Zenit-3 space launch vehicle at 4:00 p.m. (EST). The satellite separated from the final stage of the rocket approximately six hours and 30 minutes after launch.

Christopher Richmond, Orbital’s Senior Vice President and head of its communications satellite business unit, said: “Following the excellent launch carried out by the Land Launch Zenit rocket, the several-week in-orbit testing process has now begun. Intelsat and Orbital engineers are now working together to prepare the spacecraft for its introduction into commercial service. We are very pleased that the IS-15 mission is off to such a good start and we look forward to completing the in-orbit testing and turning over another reliable satellite to Intelsat.”

Orbital designed, built and tested the IS-15 spacecraft at the company’s satellite manufacturing facility in Dulles, Virginia. The IS-15 satellite will replace the Intelsat 709 satellite currently positioned at 85 degrees East Longitude.

The high power Ku-band payload aboard IS-15 will provide video and data services for the Middle East and Indian Ocean regions as well as Russia. The IS-15 spacecraft is designed to produce 4.6 kW of payload electrical power and features two 2.3 meter dual-grid deployable antennas, as well as one 1.4 meter dual-grid deck-mounted antenna.

The satellite is expected to have a useful life of at least 17 years and is part of Intelsat’s 11-satellite launch campaign, the largest in Intelsat’s history.

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