Boeing

The Odyssey Launch Platform and the Sea Launch Commander have departed Sea Launch Home Port for the launch of the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 communications satellite. Built by Space Systems/Loral for Loral Skynet do Brasil, the satellite is scheduled for launch on a Zenit-3SL vehicle, January 9, at the start of a two-hour launch window that will open at 8:02 pm PST (4:02:00 GMT, January 10).

The Sea Launch vessels are sailing from Long Beach, Calif., to the launch site on the Equator at 154° West Longitude. Upon arrival, the launch team will initiate a 72-hour countdown, ballasting the Launch Platform to launch depth, and performing final tests on the rocket and spacecraft. The three-stage rocket will lift the 4694 kg (10,350 lb) spacecraft to a high perigee geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). This is the first of three consecutive missions Sea Launch will execute for Space Systems/Loral in 2004. Following the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 mission, Sea Launch is scheduled to launch DIRECTV-7S and then Telstar-18.

The Sea Launch team will deliver the Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 spacecraft to GTO to support a final orbital position at 63° West Longitude. The SS/L 1300 series spacecraft carries 41 Ku-band transponders with five unique and interconnecting coverage beams. Fifty percent of the satellite's power will be focused on Brazil, providing a dedicated Ku-band solution for the Brazilian marketplace. The satellite's other beams will cover the Americas and the North Atlantic Ocean, where Connexion by Boeing^SM will use the satellite to provide its Internet-to-aircraft service.