"The Sea Launch team is extremely disappointed with the failure," Will Trafton, president of Sea Launch, said shortly after the anomaly was confirmed.

"I offer my sincerest regrets to Hughes and ICO -- and I assure all of our customers that we will determine the cause of this failure and the necessary corrective actions and will share this information when it is available.

The Sea Launch rocket lifted off in a southeasterly direction from the company's mobile launch platform, approximately 230 miles from Kiritimati (Christmas) Island in the Pacific.

Loss of communication of the launch vehicle occurred several minutes into the flight when the Sea Launch Commander, the assembly & command ship (ACS), lost flight data signals from the rocket.

Each partner is actively reviewing all the available launch data. Upon approval of a specific Technical Assistance Agreement for this type of an event, an investigation oversight board will be formed.

Loss of the rocket and its payload occurred over the Pacific Ocean and the incident posed no known safety threat to populations. No Sea Launch personnel were injured and neither the ACS nor the launch platform sustained damage.

"This is a tough business, and failures are an unfortunate part of this industry," Trafton continued. "I am extremely proud of the Sea Launch team. This group of professionals from four nations will recover from this disappointment and provide reliable launch services in the future."

SPACE-SHIP.COM
PanAmSat Signs with Sea Launch
Washington - February 4, 2000 - PanAmSat signed up Thursday with SeaLaunch for up to five launches through to 2003. The agreement calls for the launch of the advanced Galaxy IIIC during the second quarter of 2001 with options on four more SeaLaunchs.

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