Proton launches DirecTV satellite
Posted: Sat, Jul 7, 2007, 9:16 AM ET (1316 GMT)
An upgraded Proton rocket successfully launched a television broadcasting satellite for DirecTV early Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:16 pm EDT Friday (0116 GMT, 7:16 am local time Saturday) and placed the DirecTV 10 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit approximately nine hours later. The spacecraft, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,900 kilograms and carries 131 Ka-band transponders. The satellite will operate from 102.8 degrees west in GEO, where it will be used by satellite TV company DirecTV to provide high-definition television programming for customers in the US. The launch was the first for the "enhanced" version of the Proton, featuring a number of design changes to reduce the vehicle's mass and thus increase its payload capacity; DirecTV 10 is the heaviest GEO spacecraft launched by a Proton.
An upgraded Proton rocket successfully launched a television broadcasting satellite for DirecTV early Saturday. The Proton M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 9:16 pm EDT Friday (0116 GMT, 7:16 am local time Saturday) and placed the DirecTV 10 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit approximately nine hours later. The spacecraft, a Boeing 702 model, weighs 5,900 kilograms and carries 131 Ka-band transponders. The satellite will operate from 102.8 degrees west in GEO, where it will be used by satellite TV company DirecTV to provide high-definition television programming for customers in the US. The launch was the first for the "enhanced" version of the Proton, featuring a number of design changes to reduce the vehicle's mass and thus increase its payload capacity; DirecTV 10 is the heaviest GEO spacecraft launched by a Proton.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, September 13
SpaceX, Northrop Grumman to launch supplies to ISS
Spectrum News — 5:52 am ET (0952 GMT) Cornell-led space tech startup acquired by Pasteur Labs
Cornell Univ. — 5:51 am ET (0951 GMT) How China Is Transforming Space Power
The Diplomat — 5:46 am ET (0946 GMT) Two billionaires have very different — and equally wild — visions of a future in space. Is either possible?
CNN — 5:43 am ET (0943 GMT) Rare photos show 'deeply personal' moments in space
BBC — 5:36 am ET (0936 GMT) |
