THURAYA-2 SATELLITE LAUNCH GOOD-TO-GO
LONG BEACH – A pair of unique ocean going vessels have sailed from the Port of Long Beach, bound for the equator where they will launch a new satellite into geo-synchronous orbit for a United Arab Emirates-based communications company.
The Odyssey launch platform and the Launch Commander support ship – operated by Sea Launch LLC - Once the vessels arrive at their launch position, the Odyssey platform will be ballasted to launch depth, and final tests on the rocket and spacecraft will be conducted before the 72-hour countdown begins.
Liftoff for the Thuraya-2 satellite is scheduled for a 44-minute “launch window” that opens at 6:56 am (PST), June 10.
A 200-foot Zenit-3SL rocket will lift the satellite to geo-synchronous transfer orbit with a liftoff thrust of 1.6 million lbs. The GEO-Mobile satellite uses Boeing technology that provides a range of cellular-like voice and data services over a vast geographic region.
The 11,490-pound satellite was built by Boeing for the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company and was moved in April to Sea Launch’s Long Beach base of operations from its satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, located about 20 miles from the port.
Sea Launch successfully launched the first Boeing GEM model, Thuraya-1, into orbit in October, 2000. That satellite is the heaviest commercial spacecraft successfully launched to date.
The Thuraya-2 will enable the company, based in Abu Dhabi, to provide communications services to approximately 2.3 billion people in the Middle East, Europe, North and Central Africa, and South and Central Asia, or an area covering an equivalent of more than one-third of the globe.
The satellite is designed for a 12 to 15 life span and will be “parked” in orbit approximately 22,235 miles above the earth. Initial signal acquisition will be handled through Boeing’s ground station in Uralla, Australia.
Sea Launch Company, LLC provides heavy-lift commercial space launch services and has carried out 19 operations since the company was formed in 1995. The company is a consortium of four companies – the Kvaerner Group of Norway, Ukraine-headquartered RSC Energia, Russia’s SDO Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash, and US-based Boeing.
It’s launch services are marketed by Boeing Launch Services, a subsidiary of the El Segundo-based partner.
The Thuraya-2 launch is the first for Sea Launch since the company voluntarily ceased operations late last year following the failure of an ILS Proton satellite to enter a successful geo-synchronous orbit. An exhaustive review of launch procedures was completed and corrective action taken before the Thuraya-2 launch was given the go-ahead. The company has a current backlog of 17 confirmed launch contracts.
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