spacetoday.net: Atlas launches Intelsat 14

Posted: Mon, Nov 23, 2009, 6:41 AM ET (1141 GMT)
Atlas 5 launch of Intelsat 14 (ULA)

An Atlas 5 rocket successfully launched a new Intelsat communications satellite early Monday. The Atlas 5 431 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 1:55 am EST (0655 GMT) and deployed the Intelsat 14 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit nearly two hours later. The launch was postponed by about an hour because of upper level wind conditions; a technical glitch scrubbed a launch attempt earlier in the month. The satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, weighed approximately 5,600 kilograms at launch and carries a payload of 40 C-band and 22 Ku-band transponders. The spacecraft will operate from 45 degrees west in GEO, replacing the existing Intelsat 1R satellite that serves customers in Europe, Africa, and Latin America. The spacecraft also carries an experimental Internet router called IRIS, developed by Cisco for the Defense Department.