spacetoday.net: Proton launches Inmarsat satellite

Posted: Tue, Aug 19, 2008, 7:53 PM ET (2353 GMT)
Proton launch of Inmarsat-4 F3 (ILS)

The Proton rocket returned to commercial service with the successful launch Tuesday of an Inmarsat communications satellite. The Proton M lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 6:43 pm EDT Monday (2243 GMT Monday, 4:43 am local time Tuesday) and placed the Inmarsat-4 F3 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit after a nine-hour mission. The spacecraft, a Eurostar 3000GM model built by EADS Astrium, weighed nearly 6,000 kilograms at liftoff. It will operate at 98 degrees west in GEO, providing mobile broadband services over the US. The launch was the first commercial mission for the Proton since a March launch that stranded the AMC-14 satellite in a transfer orbit after a problem with the rocket's upper stage.