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Atlas 5 Launches ASTRA 1KR Satellite
Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Apr 20, 2006 An Atlas V launcher successfully carried the ASTRA 1KR satellite into orbit today, on the third mission of the year for International Launch Services (ILS). The 19-story Atlas V-411 vehicle lifted off today from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41 at 4:27 p.m. EDT (20:47 GMT). After a flight of 1 hour 48 minutes, the launcher's Centaur upper stage released the satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Lockheed Martin built both the satellite, an A2100 model, and the Atlas V launcher. Today's mission was for SES ASTRA of Luxembourg, a longtime ILS customer. ILS is a Lockheed Martin joint venture based in McLean, Va. ILS markets commercial launch missions on the Atlas rocket and on the Russian-built Proton vehicle to satellite operators worldwide. SES was ILS' first Proton customer, with ASTRA 1F in April 1996, and this was its first launch using Atlas. "This was an especially important mission for ILS and our customer, SES ASTRA," said ILS President Mark Albrecht. "It was our 100th launch, and after 10 years of launching SES ASTRA satellites, we are delighted to have an opportunity to introduce this valued customer to the excellence of Atlas. We now have achieved 100 percent reliability on Atlas vehicles over 79 flights since mid-1993, launching both government and commercial payloads." "We are very proud and satisfied that the ASTRA 1KR mission has been a success," said Ferdinand Kayser, president and CEO of SES ASTRA. "ASTRA 1KR will benefit our customers, further strengthen our unique inter-satellite backup scheme and provide important replacement capacity for our ASTRA 1B and ASTRA 1C satellites. The success of the ASTRA 1KR mission is a milestone in our company history and shows that we have strengthened the fruitful cooperation with our launch partners, Lockheed Martin and International Launch Services." While this is the first ASTRA satellite to use an Atlas vehicle, SES ASTRA has used ILS Proton vehicles for six launches. In addition, 10 satellites for SES AMERICOM's fleet have used a mix of Atlas and Proton vehicles. An SES affiliate, AsiaSat, also has used both vehicles, and the launch for another affiliate, SES SIRIUS AB, was awarded to Proton in 2005. Related Links ILS SES ASTRA
Cadet-Designed Rocket Blasts Off From California
US Air Force Academy CO (SPX) Apr 20, 2006Cadets launched their fourth cadet-designed sounding rocket April 6 from the Navy's Point Magu Missile Range near San Nicholas Island, Calif. The launch results provided many lessons, including some that won't be taught in a textbook, say course instructors. |
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