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13.09.2015
The Proton rocket with Express AM8 rolled out Friday to the Complex 81 launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
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A new multipurpose Russian communications satellite to be parked over the Atlantic Ocean is awaiting launch Monday aboard a Proton rocket.
Owned by the Russian Satellite Communications Co., Russia’s state-owned civilian telecom satellite operator, the Express AM8 spacecraft is heading for a perch 22,300 miles over the equator.
The satellite’s Proton launcher rolled out to its launch facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday and rotated vertical for Monday’s liftoff, which is set for 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT).
After flying east from Baikonur, the three-stage core of the Proton rocket will give way to a Block DM upper stage for a series of delicate maneuvers to propel Express AM8 into its intended orbit thousands of miles above Earth.
Monday’s launch will be the fifth flight of a Proton booster this year, and the 406th mission by the workhorse rocket since its debut in 1965. It will be the second Proton launch since it returned to flight Aug. 28 after a launch mishap in May grounded the rocket more than three months.
With a launch mass of 2.1 metric tons — about 4,269 pounds — Express AM8 is beginning a 15-year mission to broadcast communications services across a coverage zone stretching from the Americas to Russia.
The satellite will be positioned in geostationary orbit at 14 degrees west longitude, replacing RSCC’s Express A4 satellite launched in June 2002.
Made by ISS Reshetnev, a Russian satellite manufacturer, Express AM8 carries 42 communications transponders in C-band, Ku-band and L-band. The satellite was built in partnership with France’s Thales Alenia Space, which provided a repeater system and antennas for the spacecraft.
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The Express AM8 satellite, seen here being lifted atop its Block DM upper stage, will provide communications services across an area stretching from the Americas to Russia.
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Express AM8 joins RSCC’s satellite fleet providing commercial telecom services and communications links for Russian government ministries and the Russian president. The new satellite is designed for fixed and mobile communications services, digital television, radio broadcasting, Internet access and other data transmissions, according to ISS Reshetnev.
The launch of Express AM8 was intended to go up in April, but officials delayed the mission after discovering contamination in fuel lines on the Proton rocket. The Proton launch failure in May pushed back the mission again to September.
Monday’s launch will be conducted under the auspices of the Russian government’s federal space program. Commercial Proton missions are managed by U.S.-based International Launch Services.
Quelle: SN
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Update: 14.09.2015
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Proton-M Launch With Express-AM8 Satellite Scheduled for Monday
Russian Federal Space Agency announced that a Proton-M carrier rocket launch with a Russian Express-АМ8 telecommunications satellite is scheduled for Monday evening.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — A Proton-M carrier rocket launch with a Russian Express-АМ8 telecommunications satellite is scheduled for Monday evening, a spokesperson for the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has said.
It is the second launch after an incident in May, when a Proton-M carrier rocket failed to deliver the Mexican MexSat-1 satellite into orbit. The first successful launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket with the British telecommunications satellite Inmarsat-5F3 took place on August 28.
"The launch is scheduled for 10:00 p.m. Moscow time [19:00 GMT] on September 14. The separation of the Express-AM8 [satellite] from the Briz-M upper stage is expected to take place on September 15, at 4:37 a.m. Moscow time [01:37 GMT]," the spokesperson told RIA Novosti.
Express-AM8 has an operational life-time of 15 years. The satellite's weight is 2,100 kilograms (4,629 pounds), with the payload mass of 661 kilograms (1,457 pounds).
The satellite is designed to provide television and radio broadcasting, data transmission, multimedia services, presidential and governmental communications, telephony, mobile communication in the territory of western and central Russia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, as well as South and North America.
Quelle: Sputnik
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Update: 23.00 MESZ
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Proton rocket takes off with Express AM8 communications bird
A Proton rocket lifted off at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT) with the Express AM8 communications satellite. Credit: TsENKI/Roscosmos
A Proton rocket fired away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, kicking off a nearly seven-hour flight set to conclude with a high-altitude delivery of a new Russian communications satellite into orbit.
The Proton booster blasted off at 1900 GMT (3 p.m. EDT) from Complex 81 at Baikonur, powering into the sky on the thrust of six RD-276 main engines.
The three-stage rocket completed its role in the mission less than 10 minutes later, then a Block DM upper stage took control of the flight for a series of three burns to inject the Express AM8 satellite into a near-circular geostationary orbit.
Deployment of Express AM8 is scheduled for 0137 GMT (9:37 p.m. EDT) to complete the launch sequence.
Weighing 2.1 metric tons (4,629 pounds) at launch, the spacecraft is light enough for the Proton/Block DM to place it near its final perch 22,300 miles above Earth. Heavier satellites often go to an elliptical transfer orbit, requiring them to consume their own fuel for final orbit-raising.
Express AM8 is beginning a 15-year mission at 14 degrees west longitude, covering a region stretching from the Americas to Europe, North Africa and Russia with 42 transponders transmitting in Ku-band, C-band and L-band, according to the Russian Satellite Communications Co., the satellite’s owner.
RSCC is a state-owned Russian operator providing civilian communications services, and Express AM8’s launch is considered part of Russia’s federal space program, and not a commercial flight under the auspices of International Launch Services.
Thales Alenia Space of France supplied the satellite’s antennas and repeater system. Express AM8’s bus was built by ISS Reshetnev, a Russian satellite manufacturer.
Express AM8 will replace the aging Express A4 communications satellite launched in June 2002.
Monday’s launch is the fifth flight of a Proton booster this year, and the 406th mission by the workhorse rocket since its debut in 1965. It is the second Proton launch since it returned to flight Aug. 28 after a launch mishap in May grounded the rocket more than three months.
Express AM8 joins RSCC’s satellite fleet providing commercial telecom services and communications links for Russian government ministries and the Russian president. The new satellite is designed for fixed and mobile communications services, digital television, radio broadcasting, Internet access and other data transmissions, according to ISS Reshetnev.
The next launch of a Proton rocket is set for Oct. 9 with Turkey’s Turksat 4B communications satellite. That mission is under the management of ILS.
Quelle:SN
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Update: 15.09.2015
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Erfolgreicher Start von Proton-M
Quelle: Roscosmos
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