Posted: Thu, Sep 25, 2008, 6:53 AM ET (1053 GMT)
A Sea Launch rocket successfully placed a new communications satellite for Intelsat into orbit early Wednesday. The Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off from the Odyssey Launch Platform on the Equator in the Pacific at 5:28 am EDT (0928 GMT) Wednesday and injected the spacecraft into a geosynchronous transfer orbit just over an hour later. Galaxy 19, a Space Systems/Loral 1300-series spacecraft, weighed 4,690 kilograms at liftoff and carries a total of 52 C- and Ku-band transponders. Intelsat will operate the spacecraft at 97 degrees west in GEO, replacing the existing Galaxy 25 spacecraft and completing Intelsat's refresh of its satellite fleet serving North America. The launch is the fifth and likely final Sea Launch mission of 2008.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  NASA SpaceFlight.com article
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  RIA Novosti article
•  Sea Launch press release