Sea Launch announced Tuesday that the Odyssey Launch Platform and its accompanying Sea Launch Commander have departed Home Port in Long Beach in preparation for the company's third satellite launch of the year: PanAmSat's Galaxy 16. The liftoff is scheduled for the opening of a two-hour launch window, at 12:50 a.m. Pacific Time on June 17.
The Sea Launch vessels are now en route to the launch site at 154 degrees west longitude, in international waters in the Pacific Ocean, south of Hawaii.
Upon arrival, the launch team will initiate a 72-hour countdown, ballasting the launch platform 65 feet, to launch depth, and performing final tests on the launch system and the spacecraft.
A Zenit-3SL vehicle will lift the 4,640-kilogram (10,229-pound) Loral 1300 series spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a final orbital position of 99 degrees west.
Built by Space Systems/Loral, Galaxy 16 carries 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders and is designed to meet the needs of a variety of broadcast customers in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada.
As the replacement for Galaxy 4R, Galaxy 16 will be the newest member of PanAmSat's North American Galaxy fleet. It is the fourth spacecraft Sea Launch will orbit for PanAmSat, and the sixth Loral-built spacecraft.
Designed for a 15-year lifespan, Sea Launch's direct insertion into equatorial orbit is expected to yield additional years of fuel life for the satellite.
Sea Launch will carry live coverage of the Galaxy 16 mission via satellite and also streaming video on the company's Web site. Specifics about accessing this coverage will be announced when launch operations begin at the launch site.
