Posted: Sat, Apr 4, 2009, 10:32 AM ET (1432 GMT)
A Proton rocket successfully placed a European communications satellite into orbit late Friday. The Proton M rocket lifted off on schedule at 12:24 pm EDT (1624 GMT) and released the Eutelsat W2A satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about nine hours later. The spacecraft, a Spacebus 4000 C4 built by Thales Alenia Space, weighed about 5,900 kilograms at liftoff and carries 47 Ku-band and 10 C-band transponders as well as an S-band payload. Eutelsat will operate the spacecraft at 10 degrees east in GEO, providing a range of communications services for Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, including mobile TV services in Europe using the satellite's S-band payload. The launch was the first this year for ILS.
