Posted: Mon, Mar 24, 2003, 8:07 PM ET (0107 GMT)
International Launch Services said Monday that it has scheduled the next commercial launch of a Proton booster for April 29. ILS said a Proton K, using a Breeze M upper stage, will launch the AMC-9 communications satellite for SES Americom. The launch had been delayed several months as ILS and SES awaited the outcome of a Russian investigation into the failure of a Block DM upper stage during a commercial Proton launch last November. ILS is in the process of transitioning from the Proton K/Block DM to the Proton M/Breeze M, a process thought to be accelerated by the Block DM failure. ILS also said the SES Americom signed a contract for another Proton launch for an unspecified satellite. ILS already has contracts to launch three other SES Americom satellites, AMC 10, 11, and 12, through 2004. The new launch contract is the second in as many weeks for ILS, after Telesat Canada signed a deal for a Proton launch last week.

Related Links:

•  ILS press release