ILS Proton to Launch AMC-12 Satellite
Payload: AMC-12 communications satellite
Alcatel Space Spacebus 4000 platform
Separated spacecraft mass: Approx.
10,966 lbs (4,974 kg)
Launch Vehicle: Proton M/Breeze M
Weight at liftoff: 691,272 kg (1.5 million
lbs), including payload
Height: 61 m (200 ft)
Launch Date: Feb. 3 (Baikonur, GMT)
Feb. 2 (U.S.)
Launch Window Opens: 7:27 a.m. Baikonur
2:27 GMT
9:27 p.m. EST
Launch Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launch Pad 24
Launch Customer: SES AMERICOM, Princeton, N.J.
Part of SES GLOBAL family of companies
Satellite Manufacturer: Alcatel Space, Cannes, France
Launch Vehicle
Manufacturer: Khrunichev State Research and Production
Space Center, Moscow
Launch Services
Provider: International Launch Services (ILS), McLean,
Va.
Satellite Use: Formerly called Worldsat-2, the AMC-12 is a
high-power C-band satellite with three
regional beams: North America, South America
and Europe/Africa. It will support a wide
range of communications applications.
Satellite Statistics: -- 1st Spacebus 4000 to be launched
-- 3 regional beams
-- 72 C-band transponders
-- Orbital location: 37.5 degrees West
longitude
-- Anticipated service life of 16 years
Mission Profile: The Proton launch vehicle will inject the
satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit,
using a five-burn Breeze M mission design.
The first three stages of the Proton will use
a standard ascent trajectory to place the
Breeze M fourth stage, with the satellite,
into a suborbital trajectory, from which the
Breeze M will place itself and the spacecraft
into a support or reference orbit of 173 km
(107 miles), inclined at 51.5 degrees. Then
the satellite will be propelled to its
transfer orbit by additional burns of the
Breeze M. Following separation from the
Breeze M, the spacecraft will perform a
series of liquid apogee engine burns to raise
perigee, lower inclination and circularize
the orbit at the geostationary altitude of
36,000 km (22,300 miles).
Target Orbit
at Separation: Apogee: 35,786 km (22,236 miles)
Perigee: 6,400 km (3,977 miles)
Inclination: 18.3 degrees
Spacecraft Separation: Approximately 9 hours, 20 minutes after
liftoff
ILS Mission Statistics: -- 1st ILS Proton mission this year
-- 5th ILS launch for SES AMERICOM in
12-month period
-- 32nd ILS mission on Proton
NEWS MEDIA ACTIVITIES
Live Broadcast in U.S.: AMC-4, transponder 17 C-band, 101 degrees
West, downlink 4040 MHz (vertical), analog.
Test signals start at 8:45 p.m. Feb. 2 EST.
In Europe, Russia &
Kazakhstan: New Skies NSS-7, transponder ENV-1/EUH-1,
Channel 2, Ku-band; 338 degrees West;
bandwidth 9 MHz; FEC 3/4; downlink 10995.5
MHz (horizontal); symbol rate 6.1113.
Test signals start at 01:45 Feb. 3 GMT.
More Information: Live webcast and general mission information
are available on the ILS web site at
www.ilslaunch.com. Launch status updates are
available on the ILS U.S. domestic Launch
Hotline at 1-800-852-4980.