Sea Launch will provide updates about this mission as information is available. To watch the launch, please click here. Mission coverage will begin at about 20:00 UTC on June 21.

L-2 hours -
Liquid Oxygen loading of Block DM-SLB upper stage is completed
Telemetry from launch vehicle is being received
Spacecraft status nominal, master control and Downrange Tracking Station are ready
Launch weather office is reporting no violations of any weather related launch commit criteria for the remainder of the launch countdown.

Spacecraft is ready to continue processing for launch - readiness for fueling the rocket
All systems are nominal

L-1 hour - At one hour and counting, all systems are go for launch. Liquid oxygen and Kerosene tanking are underway, fueling the launch vehicle.

L-30 minutes - Launch weather office is reporting no violations of any weather related launch commit criteria for the remainder of the launch countdown. Spacecraft is ready to continue processing for launch

L-15 minutes - Spacecraft is on Internal Power and is GO for Launch

L-10 minutes - transporter-erecter is being lowered. All systems continue to be nominal for launch.

LIFTOFF - Rocket is stable

1st stage separation. Payload fairing separation. 2nd stage now in operation

Zenit/Block DM Separation is Confirmed

Block DM Main Engine Start is confirmed. Pressure is nominal. Flight is nominal
Block DM Main Engine Shutdown is confirmed (end of 1st of 3 burns of the upper stage)
Block DM will now coast for 1 hour 7 minutes

Block DM-SLB Main Engine Cutoff #2 was nominal, ending the 2nd burn of the Block DM-SLB upper stage. Upper stage is now coasting with the MEASAT-3a satellite, approaching the 3rd burn operation.

Successful 3rd operation of the Block DM-SLB upper stage completed.

Spacecraft Separation was confirmed at 04:14:47 GMT
Spacecraft Acquisition is confirmed. Spacecraft health has been checked (Telemetry and Command) with nominal results.

Built by Orbital Sciences, MEASAT-3a is designed to expand capacity and in-orbit redundancy for MEASAT’s customers. Orbital’s STAR-2 spacecraft platform carries 12 C-band transponders with coverage for the wide Asia-Pacific region. The satellite also carries 12 Ku-band transponders to serve direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting markets in Malaysia and Indonesia. Following orbital insertion, this satellite will be co-located with MEASAT-3 at 91.5 degrees East Longitude. It is designed for a 15-year service life on orbit and will generate approximately 3.6 kW of payload power.

MEASAT Satellite Systems is a premium supplier of satellite communication services to Asia’s leading broadcasters, DTH platforms and telecom operators. Operating three satellites, the MEASAT fleet is able to provide satellite capacity to over 145 countries representing 80% of the world’s population across the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Australia. The fleet will be further enhanced with the launch of MEASAT-3a.

Orbital is the world's leading supplier of small geosynchronous (GEO) satellites designed to provide direct-to-home TV broadcasting, cable program distribution, business data network capacity, regional mobile communications and similar services.

From our launch site at the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, a Zenit-3SLB launch vehicle will lift the 2,366 kg (5,216 lb) MEASAT-3a spacecraft to geosynchronous transfer orbit. The first stage will operate for two-and-a-half minutes and then separate, followed by the jettison of the payload fairing three minutes later. After a six-minute burn, the second stage will separate from the Block DM-SLB upper stage. The Block DM will then begin the first of three burns, taking the spacecraft to a stable parking orbit. After a brief second burn, the upper stage will coast with the spacecraft for five hours, after which a third burn will inject the spacecraft into a geosynchronous transit orbit. Eleven minutes later, the spacecraft will separate from the upper stage. Following spacecraft separation, a ground station in Uralla, Australia, will acquire the first signals from MEASAT-3a in orbit.

May 20 - An Antonov-124 cargo plan lands at Baikonur, delivering the MEASAT-3a spacecraft. Following customs clearance, the satellite is transported to the clean room of the Payload Processing Facility at Site 31. Please visit this site for arrival coverage: http://www.federalspace.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=6271

May 21 - Now in the Payload Processing facility, prelaunch processing of the MEASAT-3a satellite gets underway with testing, fueling and then integration with a Block DM-SLB upper stage. Operations with the Block DM-SLB upper stage are nearing completion. Baikonur`s filling station is prepared for propellant / pressurized gases fueling the Upper Stage as well as the satellite propulsion system. A train delivers the first two stages of the Zenit-3SLB launcher and preparations begin for rocket integration..

May 28 - Pre-launch processing continues with work on both the launch vehicle and the spacecraft. The Block DM-SLB upper stage has been loaded with propellant and is now in the integration and test facility. The MEASAT 3a satellite is undergoing autonomous tests. At the launch pad, a Zenit-3SLB test setup is being assembled at Area 42.

June 1 - Following completion of autonomous testing, the spacecraft is fueled. Preparations of the Zenit-3SLB launch vehicle continue on schedule.

June 6 - Launch preparations continue. Spacecraft fueling is completed and the Block DM-SLB is ready for spacecraft integration in Building 31. The first two stages of the Zenit vehicle are also being prepared for integration with the upper stage. For photos of the Block DM-SLB arriving at Building 31, please go to:  http://www.federalspace.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=6415

June 8 - Preparations for the launch continue to progress. The MEASAT-3a spacecraft is mated with the Block DM-SLB upper stage. For photos of this operation, please go to:  http://www.federalspace.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=6418

June 9 - The MEASAT-3a satellite is encapsulated in the payload fairing in the payload processing facility at Area 31. In the next few days, preparations at Area 42 will lead up to the mating of the ascent unit (spacecraft and Block DM-SLB upper stage) with the first and second stages of the Zenit, forming the fully integrated Zenit-3SLB rocket. For photos of the encapsulation process, please go to: http://www.federalspace.ru/NewsDoSele.asp?NEWSID=6432

June 11 - Integration operations get underway at Area 42, following the successful transport of the Ascent Unit from the payload processing facility at Area 31. Here, the two-stage Zenit is mated with the Ascent Unit.

June 15 - The Zenit-3SLB launch vehicle is now fully integrated and al00l systems are being check out for proceeding to the launch site later this week, the next phase of pre-launch operations.