CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A powerhouse communications satellite that represents the conclusion of a $2 billion fleet modernization effort by PanAmSat Corp., was safely rocketed into space Saturday by Sea Launch.
"We went straight down the pike and everything was right on target. You can't plan a launch any better than this one has gone," said Jim Maser, Sea Launch president.
Flying atop a Zenit 3SL booster, Galaxy 3C successfully reached its proper Earth orbit about 62 minutes after liftoff from the Odyssey Launch Platform floating on the equator in the Pacific Ocean.
The 6:39:29 p.m. EDT (2239.29 GMT) shot was the first for Sea Launch since May 2001, when the company sent a spacecraft into orbit for XM Satellite Radio.
"We're in the business of launching rockets and putting satellites up into space," said Ramsis Adam, manager of mission design and safety for Sea Launch. "It's good to be back and into the mode of launching rockets again."
Sea Launch officials said delays in Galaxy 3C's readiness for launch was the principal cause of the year-long hiatus.
Built by Boeing Satellite Systems, the model 702 spacecraft was found to have trouble with the way its electricity-generating solar wings were working on seven identical models already in space.
Fixing the problem kept Galaxy 3C on the ground as engineers added an extra solar panel to each wing and then put Boeing's most powerful spacecraft through another round of tests."The redesigned solar array is a 'tried and true' flat planar array that has served our customers well over the last 10 years on our Boeing 601 satellites," said Randy Brinkley, president of Boeing Satellite Systems.
"We have complete confidence in the quality and reliability of the Galaxy 3C satellite," he said.
Designed to last 15 years in space, PanAmSat is counting on the satellite to provide 24 C-band and 53 Ku-band transponders from a perch over the equator at 95 degrees west longitude.
From there the spacecraft is destined to provide direct broadcast, Internet and other communications services to customers in the United States and Latin America.
Galaxy 3C is the seventh and last in a series of satellites launched by PanAmSat during the past two-and-a-half years to modernize the company's constellation of spacecraft, a milestone managers are celebrating.
"Every launch that we have executed as part of this initiative has gone flawlessly," said Jim Frownfelter, chief technology officer for PanAmSat.
With the addition of this satellite, PanAmSat will offer 404 transponders to its many customers -- capacity the company already is putting to good use as a major satellite service provider helping to broadcast the 2002 World Cup soccer championship around the planet.
More than 24 top broadcasters, programmers and news agencies in more than two dozen countries are using PanAmSat's satellite network for delivery of World Cup broadcasts.
With more than 17,000 hours of video transmission time booked as of June 5, it is the largest special event worked by PanAmSat in the company's history.
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