AMC-21 satellite to launch from Kazakhstan in mid-2008

Analoguesat

SES Global has contracted with the Sea Launch Company for a mission on its Land Launch system, to send the AMC-21 spacecraft into orbit in mid-2008. Land Launch will use a Zenit-3SLB vehicle to launch the AMC-21 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Land Launch site at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Both the satellite and the launch vehicle will be integrated and launched from the Zenit processing and launch facilities at the Baikonur complex. Optimizing on heritage hardware, systems and expertise, Land Launch uses a Zenit-3SLB version of the reliable Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket.

Weighing about 2,500 kilograms at launch, AMC-21 is being manufactured by Alcatel Alenia Space. The satellite will be built on the small-sized spacecraft platform STAR-2 of Orbital Sciences Corporation. AMC-21 will feature 24 Ku-band transponders, operate from orbital location of 125° West, and provide coverage of the United States and the Caribbean. The satellite will be operated and marketed by SES Americom.

AMC-21 will be the first satellite of an SES company to use a Land Launch. AsiaSat, an SES affiliated company, has contracted with Sea Launch for AsiaSat-5 satellite, which is being built by Space Systems/Loral, to be launched in late 2008 on Land Launch.

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