Posted: Sun, Aug 19, 2012, 12:11 PM ET (1611 GMT)
A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL successfully placed an Intelsat communications satellite into orbit early Sunday. The Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off from its floating launch platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean at 2:55 am EDT (0655 GMT) Sunday and released the Intelsat 21 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half-hour later. The satellite, a Boeing 702MP model weighing 5,982 kilograms at launch, carries a C- and Ku-band communications payload and will operate from 58 degrees west in GEO, providing communications services for Latin America and the South Atlantic Ocean. The launch was the third for Sea Launch since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  NASASpaceFlight.com article
•  Itar-Tass article
•  RIA Novosti article
•  Intelsat press release