* Astronomy

The Sea Launch Company today successfully delivered the Inmarsat-4 (I-4) communications satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). Early data indicate the spacecraft is in excellent condition.

A Zenit-3SL vehicle lifted off at 14:07 GMT, from the Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned at 154 degrees West Longitude. All systems performed nominally throughout the flight. The Block DM-SL upper stage inserted the 5,958 kg satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a final orbital position of 53 degrees West Longitude. A ground station at Lake Cowichan, in British Columbia, acquired the first signal from the satellite less than 25 minutes after spacecraft separation, as planned.

Inmarsat-4 is designed to provide high-speed mobile service to people throughout the Americas during its 13-year service life. It is one in a series of satellites designed to support the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) for high-speed delivery of Internet and intranet content and solutions, video-on-demand, videoconferencing, fax, e-mail, phone and LAN access. One of a family of three similar spacecraft, this Inmarsat-4 F2 satellite carries a single global beam that covers up to a third of the Earth's surface, 19 wide spot beams and 228 narrow spot beams. It has a total end-of-life power of 13kW.

Following acquisition of the spacecraft’s signal, Jim Maser, president and general manager of Sea Launch, congratulated Inmarsat and EADS Astrium.

"We have marked several milestones in this mission such as our first mission for Inmarsat and our first European-built spacecraft, and our successful mission is the most significant milestone of all! Our customer is satisfied that we have met all of their requirements. Once again, we have done what we said we would do. We look forward to future missions with Inmarsat as well as with EADS Astrium. I want to thank every member of the Sea Launch team for making this mission success possible." - Jim Maser.

"We thank the team at Sea Launch for this innovative and highly professional launch. Years of preparation have come together. With the launch of our second I-4 satellite, we look forward to offering up to half megabit internet connection covering up to 90% of the Earth’s landmass – truly Broadband for a mobile planet." - Andrew Sukawaty, Chairman and Chief Executive of Inmarsat plc (LSE:ISAT).

Sea Launch is an international partnership of American, Russian, Ukrainian and Norwegian businesses that serves commercial customers. Its inaugural launch took place on March 27, 1999.

T+ 1:25
Spacecraft Separation confirmed

T+ 1 hour 9 minutes
All systems nomininal
2nd engine burn confirmed.

T+ 45 minutes
The commercial Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket will need about 85 minutes to haul the spacecraft into the desired orbit.