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Follow the link to learn moreThe Russian DM-SL upper stage has put the Intelsat 21 American telecommunications satellite into a target orbit.
"The satellite has separated from the upper stage," the Russian space rocket corporation Energia told Interfax-AVN.
It is orbiting the earth at a pericenter altitude of 280 kilometers and an apogee altitude of 35,786 kilometers.
A Zenit-3SL carrier rocket blasted off from the Odyssey sea platform in the Pacific at 10:56 a.m. Moscow time on Sunday under the Sea Launch program.
It was the second launch under the Sea Launch program in 2012. The next ones are tentatively scheduled for December 1 2012 (Eutelsat 80B) and January 31 2013 (Intelsat 27).
The 5,984 kilogram Intelsat 21 will provide video and mobile phone services for Latin America, and it will operate in a geostationary orbit at 302 degrees eastern longitude, replacing Intelsat 9.
Intelsat 21 was built by Boeing Satellites Systems suing the 702MP platform. It has 24 C-band transponders and 36 Ku-band transponders.
Zenit-3SL launches are run by the Sea Launch international consortium, formed in 1995. Sine it was reorganized in 2010, 95% in it have been held by Energia Overseas Limited, the Russian Energia space corporation's subsidiary, 3% by Boeing's subsidiary and 2 by Norway's Aker Solutions ship-building corporation.
The Sea Launch has carried out 33 Zenit-3SL launches from a sea platform in the Pacific ocean, of which one was partially successful and two were a failure.
