Posted: Fri, Jun 24, 2005, 7:28 AM ET (1128 GMT)
A Zenit 3 booster successfully launched a new Intelsat communications satellite early Thursday. The Sea Launch Zenit 3SL lifted off at 10:03 am EDT (1403 GMT) from the Odyssey floating platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. The booster's payload, the Intelsat Americas 8 (IA-8) satellite, separated from the rocket's upper stage about a half-hour later. IA-8, a Space System/Loral 1300-series spacecraft, weighs in at 5,500 kilograms and carries 28 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders, as well as a Ka-band payload. Intelsat plans to use the satellite in GEO at 89 degrees west to provide a wide range of communications services for customers in North America and the Caribbean. The launch was the third this year for Sea Launch.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  AP article
•  Loral press release
•  Boeing press release