LOS ANGELES-Sea Launch, the multinational ocean-based launch services company, Oct. 9 successfully launched its first commercial satellite-a DirecTV 1-R satellite from its Odyssey launch platform located on the equator, about 1,400 miles southeast of Hawaii.
Hughes Space & Communications built the DirecTV satellite, which once signal acquisition is complete, should play a key role in expanding capacity and delivering local broadcast network channels to DirecTV customers in major metropolitan markets across the country.
Sea Launch said launching satellites from the equator is the most direct and cost-effective route to geostationary transfer orbit, allowing customers to launch heavier payloads while using less fuel. For telecommunications companies, this means they can launch more satellites for less cost, and avoid the bevy of government rules and regulations that increase the costs and delay launches from traditional terrestrial sites in Russia and China.
Preparations now are under way at the Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, Calif., for the next commercial satellite launch in the first quarter of next year, said the company. Sea Launch is a partnership between Boeing Commercial Space Co., Kvaerner Maritime of Oslo, Norway, RSC Energia of Moscow and KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of the Ukraine.
