Boeing

The Sea Launch Commander and the Odyssey Launch Platform arrived at the equator at 4 a.m. (PST), March 9, and immediately began preparation for launch countdown. Launch time is set precisely at 6:49 a.m. (PST) on Sunday, March 12. The launch site is on the equator at 0 degrees North, 154 degrees West Longitude.

The Sea Launch Zenit-3SL launch vehicle will lift the 6,000 pound ICO F-1 communications satellite into Medium Earth Orbit, about 65-hundred miles from Earth. The satellite was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company in El Segundo, Calif. It is the first in a series of satellites built for ICO Global Communications, based in London.

Sea Launch will offer a live satellite broadcast of the launch on March 12, beginning with bars and tone. The two-part feed will have a 45-minute intermission, as follows:

Schedule (all times GMT): Part 1, 13:30-15:15; Part 2, 16:30-17:15 Transmission is analog on: GE 5K/15, GE 2C/23 and New Skies K/H5 Upper

United States
GE 5K 15 - audio subcarriers are 6.2 and 6.8 identical
Transponder: 15
Arc Position: 79 Degrees West
Uplink Freq: 14457
Downlink Freq: 12157/Vertical

Europe and Russia
New Skies K/H5 Upper - audio subcarriers are 6.6 and 7.4 identical
Transponder: H5
Upper Arc Position: 338.5 Degrees East
Uplink Freq: 14298.5/Uplink/Horizontal
Downlink Freq: 11498.5/Horizontal

Please visit the Sea Launch website for indepth coverage of this mission and also a live webcast of the launch on March 12 at: www.sea-launch.com.