A new chapter was written Saturday night in the annals of the space age when the first commercial satellite was successfully launched into orbit from a floating launch platform in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
A four-ton DIRECTV 1-R broadcast satellite was launched from the ocean platform located on the equator 1,600 miles south of Hawaii at 11:28 p.m. ET on Saturday by a three-stage Zenit rocket.
The satellite reached orbit 62 minutes after liftoff and was successfully placed into a geosynchronous
transfer orbit without a hitch. "All systems are nominal," said a spokesperson for Sea Launch, the international company that owns and operates the ocean launch service, the first of its kind.
The direct broadcast satellite, owned and operated by Hughes Space & Communications Co., will be slowly maneuvered east until it reaches its destination over the Equator at 101 degrees West longitude, where it will hover in the same position over the earth. From that spot, the satellite will broadcast sports and movies directly to subscribers in all 50 states.
"There's no question that this launch is significant for Sea Launch and the entire launch services industry," said Sea Launch President Allan B. Ashby. "This is what we've been working toward; being in a position to offer our customers a cost-effective and reliable ride to orbit."
The first commercial venture in ocean launch services, Sea Launch is a true global partnership among the Boeing Co.; Kvaerner Maritime of Oslo, Norway; RSC Energia of Moscow, Russia; and KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine. Boeing owns 40 percent of Sea Launch, Energia 25 percent, Kvaerner 20 percent and Yuzhnoye 15 percent.
Boeing built the home port in Long Beach, Calif., the payload fairings on the rocket and is responsible for program integration. Energia builds the upper stage for the Zenit rocket, Yuzhnoye builds the first two stages. Kvaerner converted a North Sea oil drilling platform and contracted with the Govan shipyard in Scotland to build the Assembly and Command Ship.
Sea Launch's future includes firm contracts to launch 19 satellites, 14 for Hughes and five for Loral. Sea Launch joins a launch services industry now doing $5 billion-a-year in the global business of launching commercial satellites.
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