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| The mission: to place the
4,737 kg (10,443 lb) EchoStar IX/Telstar 13 spacecraft accurately
into a high perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit for customer Space
Systems/Loral. The means: the Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket, launched
from the Odyssey Launch Platform on the Equator. Once operational,
the multi-band satellite will support both the EchoStar U.S. DISH
Network and Loral Skynet television programming throughout North America,
including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. |
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AUG. 1:
The Sea Launch Commander heads toward
the launch site. Although the Commander left Home Port a
few days after the slower Odyssey Launch Platform, it soon
catches up and the two vessels sail together, about three miles apart
and within line of sight. On this trip, the Commander and
the Odyssey will reach the site in record time. Upon arrival
at the launch site on Aug. 3, the Odyssey Launch Platform,
a highly modified former oildrilling rig, is ballasted to its launch
depth, about 65 feet, making it a highly stable launch platform. |
| JULY 27: Passengers
of the Sea Launch Commander practice a safety drill after
it sets sail from Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif. The agenda
at sea is a busy one, including systems testing and launch rehearsals.
Here, passengers practice taking their positions in a lifeboat after
donning life jackets and reporting to their muster stations (a designated
spot where people gather, usually in an urgent situation), as they
would in a real emergency. |
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AUG. 4:
The Sea Launch team gathers beneath
the international countdown clocks in the launch control center
on the Commander. The photo has become a traditional
event that commemorates the start of the 72-hour launch countdown.
The EchoStar IX/Telstar 13 satellite arrived at the Payload Processing
Facility at Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., just seven
weeks earlier.
 AUG.
6: The Sea Launch Zenit- 3SL rocket
rolls out of its protective hangar on the Odyssey Launch
Platform 27 hours before liftoff. It then is automatically erected
on the launch pad. Launch support personnel transfer to the Commander
prior to loading of the rocket's liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants.
Loading starts 2.5 hours before liftoff time. The large transporter
erector arm is lowered 17 minutes before flight, signaling all
parameters are "go" for launch.
 AUG.
7: Mission Success! Liftoff occurrs
at 8:31 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time. In a span of a little more
than an hour after liftoff, the first stage separates; the payload
fairing is jettisoned; the second stage separates from the Block
DM-SL upper stage; the Block DM-SL performs a first burn, coasts,
performs a second burn and then separates from the spacecraft;
and a ground station in Beijing acquires the first signal from
the spacecraft nine minutes later. With that, the EchoStar IX/Telstar
13 satellite is accurately inserted into geosynchronous transfer
orbit in perfect condition.
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JULY 30: Safety
Officer Lars Haaheim plots the position of the Sea Launch
Commander. Destination is a position on the equator at 154
degrees west longitude, approximately 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.
This equatorial location provides the most direct route to orbit,
offering maximum lift capacity for increased payload mass or extended
spacecraft life on orbit.
 JULY
31: Chef de Cuisine Vidar Thowsen
creates an appetizer for a VIP dinner. The Commander
provides accommodations for up to 240 crew, members of the launch
team, customer representatives and VIPs.
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| SEA LAUNCH PHOTOS |
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