ILS Has Proton M Ready To Place SIRIUS Seriously Into Orbit

On November 18th at approximately 04:39, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhastan, Launch Pad 39, the SIRIUS 4 satellite will be en route to its destination via a Proton M/Breeze M rocket and through the auspices of International Launch Services, McLean, Virginia. The first three stages of the Proton will use a standard ascent trajectory to place the Breeze M fourth stage, with the satellite, into a suborbital trajectory. Once the suborbital trajectory is attained, the Breeze M will place itself and the spacecraft into a circular parking orbit of 173 km (107.5 miles), inclined at 51.5 degrees. When the upper stage and SIRIUS 4 are in the parking orbit, the unit will be propelled into its transfer orbit through a series of additional burns of the Breeze M.





Following separation from the Breeze M, the spacecraft will execute a series of liquid apogee burns to raise perigee, lower inclination, and circularize the orbit at the geostationary altitude of 35,786 km (22,236 miles). The spacecraft separation is expected to occur approximately 9 hours and 13 minutes after liftoff. The SIRIUS 4 packs 52 active Ku- and 2 active Ka-band transponders and has an anticipated service life of 15 years. Locked Martin Commercial Space Systems in Newtown, Pennsylvania, manufactured the satellite, while Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow manufactured the Proton M launch vehicle. This will be the 329th Proton launch, the 10th such using an A2100 bus, and the 4th International Launch Services launch this year. The end user/client is SES SIRIUS, Stockholm, Sweden. Additional information, including a live webcast, are available at ILS’ website, www.lislaunch.com—McLean, Virginia