spacetoday.net: Atlas launches communications satellite

Posted: Fri, Dec 17, 2004, 7:19 PM ET (0019 GMT)
Atlas 5 launch of AMC-16 (ILS)

An Atlas 5 booster successfully launched a commercial communications satellite Friday morning. The Atlas 5 521 lifted off from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 7:07 am EST (1207 GMT) and placed its payload, the AMC-16 satellite, into a geosynchronous transfer orbit one hour and 49 minutes later. The launch took place near the end of a two-hour, 40-minute launch window that opened at 4:41 am EST (0941 GMT); behind-schedule launch preparations, a valve glitch, and a flight profile update to account for changing winds accounted for the delay. The AMC-15 satellite launched Friday is a Lockheed Martin A2100AX model with 24 Ku-band transponders and 12 Ka-band spot beams. The satellite, which will be located at 85 degrees west, will be used by satellite operator SES Americom to provide direct-to-home TV service for EchoStar. The launch was the 74th consecutive successful launch for the Atlas family of vehicles, tying a record set by the Ariane 4.