Spaceway Mission Highlights

Mission: Spaceway

Sea Launch has successfully completed the Spaceway mission. A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket lifted off from the Odyssey Launch Platform at 12:31:30 am PDT ( 7:31:30 GMT ), April 26. All phases of the flight profile performed as expected. The mission ended with spacecraft separation from the Block DM upper stage, placing the Spaceway satellite into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit. A ground station in South Africa acquired the spacecraft signal. All systems are operating nominally.

The Boeing 702 spacecraft is the first of four Ka-band satellites that will enable DIRECTV to deliver more than 1,500 local and national High Definition channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007.

Mission Highlights ! Satellite Delivery to the Payload Processing Facility, Sea Launch Home Port ! Payload Rollout from the Payload Processing Facility to the Sea Launch Commander ! Rocket Transfer from the Ship to the Odyssey Launch Platform ! Rocket Rollout and Erection on launch pad for the final tests ! Departure of the Odyssey Launch Platform ! Departure of the Sea Launch Commander ! Arrival at Equatorial Launch Site, countdown to begin ! Launch of DIRECTV's Spaceway satellite - (wide photo) (tall photo)

Launch Coverage

You may watch an archived webcast of the DIRECTV/Spaceway mission by clicking on this link. To ensure your computer is configured correctly with appropriate software or to watch our archived launch videos, click here.

Payload - DIRECTV/Spaceway

From its equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude, a Zenit-3SL vehicle lifted the 6080 kg (about 13,376 lbs.) Spaceway satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), on its way to a final orbital position at 102.8 degrees West Longitude.

Built on a powerful Boeing 702 model bus, this is the first of two spacecraft scheduled for launch this year for DIRECTV and the most complex commercial satellite system ever built. The Boeing 702 spacecraft, with a design life of 12 years, was manufactured by Boeing's Satellite Development Center at the company's one-million-square-feet satellite manufacturing, integration and test complex in El Segundo, Calif. The spacecraft includes a flexible payload with a fully steerable downlink antenna that can be reconfigured on orbit to seamlessly address market conditions.

This is Sea Launch's third mission for DIRECTV. The spacecraft is one of four Boeing-built Ka-band satellites that DIRECTV has scheduled for launch over the next three years as part of a historic expansion of programming capacity that will enable DIRECTV to deliver more than 1,500 local and national High Definition channels and other advanced programming services to consumers nationwide by 2007. The DIRECTV Group, Inc. is a world-leading provider of digital multichannel television entertainment, broadband satellite networks and services. The DIRECTV Group is 34 percent owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which is approximately 82 percent owned by News Corporation.

Mission Profile

The Sea Launch team deployed the DIRECTV's Spaceway satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit, with the spacecraft separating from the upper stage over the coast of Brazil a half hour after liftoff. Two-and-a-half minutes into the flight, the first stage of the Zenit-3SL vehicle separated and the payload fairing jettisoned. Five minutes later, the second stage separated from the Block DM-SL upper stage. The Block DM-SL upper stage burned for nearly twelve minutes, then coasted for ten minutes. Following spacecraft separation from the upper stage, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory near Johannesburg, South Africa, acquired the first signal from the satellite about 20 minutes later.

Launch Timeline

Time Event L= 0:00:00 Liftoff L+ 0:02:30 Stage 1 Separation L+ 0:03:52 Payload Fairing Jettison L+ 0:08:31 Stage 2 Separation L+ 0:08:40 Block DM Ignition L+ 0:20:20 Block DM Shutdown L+ 0:30:10 Spacecraft Separation L+ 0:50:00 Spacecraft Acquisition (estimated time)

Spaceway Mission Album ! Day 1 - The Sea Launch vessels and the Sea Launch team depart Home Port and conduct safety training ! Day 2 - Continuous training is a constant activity... ! Day 3 - And still more training... ! Day 4 - It's Sunday and the weather warms up... ! Day 5 - Members of the launch team convened in the Launch Control Center... ! Day 6 - Helicopter operations begin today... ! Day 7 - The final launch rehearsal... ! Day 8 - Life at sea... ! Launch Day - Launch day begins with a stunning sunrise at the Equator...