The Intelsat 23 communications satellite will be launched on a Proton M launch vehicle topped by a Breeze M upper stage booster. The launch is scheduled for October 14, 2012 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Intelsat 23 mission will be the eighth Proton launch of 2012 and the 380th Proton flight overall. This will be the sixth commercial mission of the year for ILS and the 75th ILS Proton mission since the Proton April 1996 first commercial flight. This will also be the fifth Intelsat satellite launched with Proton. In addition, the Intelsat 23 will be the fifth Orbital satellite launched on Proton.
The spacecraft will provide communications services for the Americas, Caribbean, Western Europe, Africa and selected islands of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Designed for a useful life of at least 15 years, the IS-23 satellite will be located in orbit at 307 degrees East Longitude following its launch in late 2012. Read more
An ILS Proton rocket is scheduled to launch the Intelsat 23 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 08:37 UT, 14th October, 2012.