spacetoday.net: Proton launches Norwegian satellite

Posted: Tue, Feb 12, 2008, 6:58 AM ET (1158 GMT)
Proton launch of Thor 5 (ILS)

A Proton rocket launched a Norwegian communications satellite on Monday after a one-day delay. The Proton-M lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome Monday at 6:34 am EST (1134 GMT, 5:34 pm local time) and put the Thor 5 satellite into geostationary orbit nine and a half hours later. The launch, the first commercial Proton launch of 2008 and the second Proton launch overall of the year, had been scheduled for Sunday but was delayed because of an unspecified technical problem. The satellite, previously known as Thor-2R, is a 1,940-kilogram spacecraft built by Orbital Sciences for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting. The spacecraft, which will operate from 1 degree west in GEO, carries 24 Ku-band transponders to provide communications services for parts of Europe and the Middle East.