International Launch Services says a combined Russian and American team is conducting final preparations to launch a Proton rocket on May 8 that will carry EchoStar IV – a commercial communications satellite to orbit for EchoStar Communications Corp. of Littleton, Colorado, USA.
The rocket is scheduled to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Republic of Kazakhstan at 5:45 a.m. on May 8 (7:45 p.m. USA Eastern Daylight Time, May 7). The launch window is ten minutes long.The launch will be broadcast live on GE-1C, Transponder 13, starting at 7:00 p.m. EDT (Downlink frequency 3960 Mhz horizontal.)
The three-stage Proton is produced by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center at its factory near Moscow. The fourth stage is built by RSC Energia, also near Moscow. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin at its manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale, Calif, USA, and is an A2100 design.
This will be the first ILS commercial launch to be carried out on Proton this year. Proton is also the primay heavy lifter for Russian government payloads as well as selected commercial launches that were secured by Khrunichev before the formation of ILS.
Once on orbit at 119 degrees West longitude, EchoStar IV will serve the DISH Network, providing video, audio and data services throughout the Continental United States and Hawaii and Alaska. EchoStar Communications Corporation was founded in 1980 and is one of the pioneers in direct-to-home television products. EchoStar IV will join the three other EchoStar satellites already on orbit.
Notification of a successful launch will occur after spacecraft separation, approximately 6 hours and 38 minutes after liftoff.
Baikonur
ILS is a joint venture stock company established in 1995 to market Proton and the Lockheed Martin Astronautics-built Atlas to the worldwide satellite launch market. ILS is owned by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and the Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International joint venture. ILS is headquartered in San Diego, Calif., USA.
