Zenit-3SL launches HDTV satellite
Posted: Thu, Mar 20, 2008, 6:54 AM ET (1054 GMT)
A Sea Launch rocket success launched a new satellite designed to provide HDTV programming to customers in the US. The Zenit-3SL lifted off from the Odyssey launch platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean at 6:48 pm EDT (2248 GMT) and placed the DIRECTV 11 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about an hour later. The satellite, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,923 kg and carries a Ka-band payload that its owner, DIRECTV, plans to use to provide high-definition TV services to viewers in the US. The satellite will operate from 99.2 degrees west in GEO and enter service in September. The launch is the second of six planned for Sea Launch in 2008, with up to three additional Land Launch missions, using a variant of the Zenit-3 launched from Baikonur, scheduled as well.
A Sea Launch rocket success launched a new satellite designed to provide HDTV programming to customers in the US. The Zenit-3SL lifted off from the Odyssey launch platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean at 6:48 pm EDT (2248 GMT) and placed the DIRECTV 11 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about an hour later. The satellite, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,923 kg and carries a Ka-band payload that its owner, DIRECTV, plans to use to provide high-definition TV services to viewers in the US. The satellite will operate from 99.2 degrees west in GEO and enter service in September. The launch is the second of six planned for Sea Launch in 2008, with up to three additional Land Launch missions, using a variant of the Zenit-3 launched from Baikonur, scheduled as well.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, February 12
Philip Plait on the Wonders of the Universe
The Browser — 7:00 pm ET (0000 GMT) Young girl's curiosity of science leads to becoming first African-American woman in space
US Air Force — 6:58 pm ET (2358 GMT) Cleveland-built testing equipment ready for space
AP — 6:57 pm ET (2357 GMT) Out of this world! Video shows spectacular view of moon and Northern Lights from space
The Daily Mail — 6:56 pm ET (2356 GMT) Final ‘go’ for Vega launch
ESA — 10:27 am ET (1527 GMT) |