…designated for the EUTELSAT 70B mission departed the port at Oktyabrsky, Ukraine, on August 14, 2012, and arrived pier-side at Sea Launch’s Home Port facility in Long Beach, California, on September 19, 2012. An additional Block DM-SL upper stage, provided by RSC Energia, was also included in this shipment for use on a future mission. The payload accommodations, provided by Boeing Commercial Space Company, will be shipped in early October.
The EUTELSAT 70B mission for Eutelsat, one of the world’s leading satellite operators, is planned for launch in December of 2012.
Sea Launch AG, through Energia Logistics Ltd., has conducted a Hardware Acceptance Review of the Zenit-2S launch vehicle on July 23, 2012, to be used in support of the EUTELSAT-70B mission. Later that week, two Block DM-SL upper stages were similarly accepted. A team of specialists from the Chief System Engineer’s Office at Energia Logistics Ltd., together with specialists from RSC Energia, reviewed all of the acceptance data for the Zenit-2S #SL 35 vehicle and found that all required acceptance test values were within specification. Built for Eutelsat by Astrium, an EADS company, the EUTELSAT-70B satellite will weigh approximately 5,250kg (11,574 lbs.) at launch. It is expected to arrive at the Sea Launch facility in October in preparation for the start of standalone and combined spacecraft operations.
