Sea Launch Prepares
for Launch of XM-4
(16 October 2006) The Sea Launch team
is preparing for its fifth mission of 2006, the launch of the XM-4
satellite.
The Odyssey Launch Platform and the Sea Launch
Commander have departed from Home Port in Long Beach, California, and are on
their way to the launch site on the Equator to begin launch operations.
Lift-off is planned at the opening of a 58- minute launch window beginning at
4:49pm Pacific Daylight Time (23:49 GMT) on October 26.
The Sea Launch
vessels are sailing approximately 3,000 miles to the equatorial launch site in
international waters of the Pacific Ocean at 154 degrees West Longitude. Upon
arrival, the launch team will initiate a 72-hour countdown, ballasting the
Launch Platform 65 feet, to launch depth, and performing final tests on the
launch system and the spacecraft. A Zenit-3SL vehicle will lift the 5,193 kg
(11,448 lbs.) XM-4 satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit, on its way to a
final orbital position of 115 degrees West Longitude.
Built by the
Boeing Satellite Development Center, the Boeing 702 spacecraft carries a
high-power S-band Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS) payload built by Alcatel
Alenia Space. Like the three XM satellites currently operating in orbit, XM-4
will accommodate XM's direct broadcast of radio programming to cars, homes and
portable radios throughout the continental United States and parts of
Canada.
The XM-4 satellite will have 18 kilowatts of total power at the
beginning of life on orbit. Specified for a 15-year lifespan, Sea Launch's
direct insertion into equatorial orbit is designed to yield additional years of
service life. This is Sea Launch's fourth launch for XM Satellite Radio,
completing previous XM missions in March 2001, May 2001 and February
2005.
Sea Launch will carry live coverage of the XM-4 mission via
satellite and also streaming video on the Sea Launch website. We will provide
coverage specifics as operations begin at the launch site.
About Sea
Launch Company
Sea Launch Company, LLC, headquartered in Long Beach,
Calif., is the most reliable commercial launch services provider. With the
advantage of a launch site on the Equator, the robust Zenit-3SL rocket can lift
a heavier mass or provide longer life on orbit, offering best value plus
schedule assurance. Sea Launch offers the most direct and cost-effective route
to geostationary orbit.
(source: Sea Launch)