Standing 190 feet (58 meters) tall and weighing 737,547 pounds (334,546 kilograms) at launch, the Atlas 5 slowly climbed away from its pad, taking some 11 seconds to clear the lightning-protection towers.

The new Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, flying only its second mission, quickly picked up the pace and sped downrange, lofting Hellas Sat into its proper geosynchronous transfer orbit. Spacecraft separation from the Centaur upper stage took place as planned 31 minutes after launch.

The shot marked the 65th success in a row for Atlas. It was also the first time in U.S. space program history that a major space launch vehicle was rolled out to its launch pad and launched on the same day -- demonstrating the "clean pad" concept in which most of the pre-launch processing is complete in a nearby hangar.

"We're really excited because of the fact that on our second Atlas 5, we were already able to achieve the goal that we established for ourselves to be able to roll and launch on the same day," said Adrian Laffitte, Lockheed Martin's director of Atlas operations at the Cape.

But the real history maker was Hellas Sat, a brand new satellite for a new satellite operator -- namely the Hellas Sat Consortium, Ltd., a collection of companies that include the Hellenic Telecommunications Organization, the Hellenic Aerospace Industry, the Cyprus Development Bank, AvacomNet Services and Canadas Telesat.

"This project widens our horizons placing Greece among those countries with a presence in space," said Lefteris Antonacopoulos, chairman and CEO of Hellenic Telecommunications Organization. "The Hellenic satellite permits coverage of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games worldwide, while representing the main channel of broadcasting communication between Greeks abroad with Greece and Cyprus."

Astrium built the spacecraft.

"We are extremely pleased to be working for a new, dynamic customer, and we heartily applaud the symbolic link that Greece has made between the Olympic Games and the space age," said Antoine Bouvier, CEO of Astrium.

While broadcasting the Olympics will be the high-profile use for this satellite, a variety of other traditional communications services will be offered with the help of Hellas Sat, including direct broadcast television.

From its perch over the equator at 39 degrees East longitude, Hellas Sat's coverage includes all of Europe. Two steerable antennas on the spacecraft will allow coverage over targeted geographic regions such as South Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Astrium officials say it will take about 10 days for the satellite to reach its final orbital destination and then another three weeks to check out the spacecraft to make sure it is working properly before declaring operational what has been affectionately called "my big fat Greek satellite" after the recent movie.

Hellas Sat officials said they expect to complete negotiations for booking most of the satellite's transponders during the next few weeks. Many potential customers related to the Olympics coverage wanted to wait until after the satellite had safely arrived in orbit before committing to a contract, officials said.

Three to four Atlas launches are planned for the end of 2003.