spacetoday.net: Proton launches first Inmarsat Global Xpress satellite

Proton launches first Inmarsat Global Xpress satellite

Posted: Mon, Dec 9, 2013, 7:56 AM ET (1256 GMT)
Proton launch of Inmarsat-5 F1 (Roscosmos)

A Proton rocket placed the first in a new generation of mobile communications satellites into orbit on Sunday. The Proton M rocket lifted off at 7:12 am EST (1212 GMT, 6:12 pm local time) Sunday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Breeze M upper stage released the Inmarsat-5 F1 satellite into a sypersynchronous transfer orbit fifteen and a half hours later. The 6,100-kilogram satellite, a Boeing 702HP model, will provide high-speed communications services from GEO at Ka-band frequencies. It is the first of three satellites for its Global Xpress network, with the other two planned for launch next year.