Launch from ocean platform set for October 10

September 24, 1999
Web posted at: 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 GMT)

(CNN) -- The first launch of a fully functional payload from an ocean platform is set for October 10, with the floating rocket pad nearly ready for its sea journey from Long Beach to the Pacific Ocean lift-off site.

A 200-foot Ukrainian Zenit rocket will lift a 7,600 pound DIRECTV broadcast satellite, built by Hughes Space & Communications Co., into orbit from the equatorial ocean site in about 1,400 miles southeast of Hawaii.

The launch is set for 10:28 p.m. EDT.

"There's no question that this launch is significant for Sea Launch and for the entire launch services industry," said Sea Launch President Allen B. Ashby.

Sea Launch, an international consortium led by Boeing, will stage the launch from its Sea Launch Commander, a floating mission control center and rocket assembly factory, and the Odyssey, its launch platform.

Those vessels will leave Long Beach in this weekend, Sea Launch spokesman Terrance Scott said. The Zenit rocket is stowed in a hangar on Odyssey.

Upon arrival at the launch site, the Odyssey will be partially submerged for additional stability.

The Sea Launch rocket will be pulled from the hangar, lifted into a vertical position, filled with kerosene and liquid oxygen for fuel and launched via remote control from Commander a few miles away.

The satellite is designed to expand DIRECTV's capacity to deliver broadcast network channels to its customers in metropolitan markets in the United States.

A week ago, the payload was installed inside the rocket, and engineers have tested everything from the rocket to mission support and vessel system operations.

Ukraine and Russia have been working with Boeing to develop the Sea Launch program, although there have been concerns over the reliability of the Zenit rockets.

The consortium made a successful test flight in March, launching a 200-foot rocket carrying a five-ton dummy payload.

Customers demanded a dummy load be used in the March test after a Zenit rocket crashed in September 1998, destroying 12 Globalstar communications satellites worth $190 million.

The remote launch site avoids risks associated with populated areas and takes advantage of the Earth's high rotational speed at the equator, which allows for heavier payloads of up to five tons.

The project has been developed over four years at a cost of about $500 million. Boeing owns 40 percent and partners include RSC Energia of Russia and KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine.

Sea Launch currently has contracts for 19 launches including the DIRECTV launch.