CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The 2004 orbital launch season kicked off with an equatorial shot from the Pacific Ocean late Saturday carrying a communications satellite for Brazil.
A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL had the honors as it lifted off from the Odyssey Launch Platform at 11:13 p.m. EST (0413 GMT Sunday).
The mostly Ukranian and Russian rocket took about 65 minutes to deliver its cargo into its proper transfer orbit from which the Space Systems/Loral-built satellite will maneuver on its own into a final position at 63 degrees West longitude.
Officials said the countdown to launch, liftoff and climb to orbit all went well. The mission began a day later than planned because of stormy weather and associated rough seas encountered while the Odyssey platform and its command ship sailed from Long Beach, Calif.Having endured a relatively slow couple of years, Sea Launch officials said they are optimistic for 2004 and hope to stage as many as six launches from the Pacific.
The company also is pursuing eventually launching a version of its Zenit rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The satellite launched Saturday is known by two names -- Telstar 14 and Estrela do Sul 1 -- and will be operated by Loral Skynet and will serve a critical role in linking Brazil with the rest of the hemisphere.
"Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 will become the backbone of Loral's fixed satellite services business in Latin America," said Terry Hart, Loral Skynet president. "With this new satellite, Loral will have the capability to offer its customers unique coverage patterns in Brazil and Latin America and will be the first Brazilian operator to offer its own Ku-band service to Brazil."
The spacecraft is equipped with 51 Ku-band transponders and will dedicate more than half of its power to the Brazilian marketplace.
The rest will serve the Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean, where a new service called Connexion by Boeing will rely on the satellite to enable an Internet-to-aircraft service.
Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 has an expected lifetime of at least 15 years.
The mission originally was slated to fly atop a Boeing Delta 4 rocket, but delays prompted officials to switch the spacecraft to a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL. The change was facilitated as Boeling Launch Services markets both the Delta and Sea Launch rockets.
Sea Launch's next shot is targeted for the March timeframe.
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