Thuraya-1

Results of Launch:
Liftoff occurred at 10:51:59 pm PDT, Oct. 20, 2000 (5:51:59 am Oct. 21 GMT). The Zenit-3SL rocket, with equivalent performance of 5250 kg, delivered the Thuraya-1 satellite to a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit one hour, 59 minutes and 7 seconds after liftoff. All flight parameters were nominal and injection into orbit was extremely accurate. The signal of the spacecraft was acquired approximately 2 hours and 21 minutes after liftoff, as expected.

Thuraya-1

Sea Launch successfully launched the 5,108 kg (11,260 lb.) Thuraya satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit on October 20. Designed for a 12-year lifespan, the Thuraya satellite will provide regional mobile telecommunications services to 99 countries in the Middle East, parts of Europe, India, Africa and central Asia.

Mission Schedule:

August 7 Delivery of satellite to Sea Launch Home Port

Sept. 28 Transfer encapsulated satellite from Payload Processing Facility to Assembly and Command Ship

Oct. 2 Transfer of Integrated Launch Vehicle from Ship to Launch Platform

Oct. 3 Lift Test of Integrated Launch Vehicle on the Launch Pad

Oct. 4/7 Vessels depart Home Port for the Launch Site on the Equator

Oct. 20 Launch of Thuraya Satellite

Payload - Thuraya Satellite:
At 5108 kg. (11,260 lb.), the Thuraya-1 satellite was the largest to launch on the Zenit-3SL to date, and is the Middle East's first mobile telecommunications satellite. Beginning in 2001, Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company will offer regional mobile coverage to 99 countries spanning the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, central Asia, north and central Africa and Europe. The Abu Dhabi-based company is planning cost-effective satellite-based mobile telephone services using dual-mode handsets and satellite payphones. Services will include telephone, voice mail, Interactive Voice Response, data, fax and GPS for more than 1.8 billion people.

Boeing Satellite Systems (previously, Hughes Space and Communications Company), the world's largest manufacturer of geosynchronous commercial communications satellites, built the HS-GEM (geosynchronous-mobile) model spacecraft in El Segundo, Calif. The Boeing geomobile satellite system features a 12.25-meter deployable antenna, and onboard digital signal processing and beamforming. It is a mobile-communications-supporting satellite system that integrates a Boeing geosynchronous-orbit satellite with a ground segment and a user terminal segment. The Thuraya ground segment includes terrestrial gateways plus a co-located network operations center and satellite control facility in the United Arab Emirates.

See http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/qtmovies/hsgem_deploy.mov for deployment sequence animation.

Mission Profile:
The Thuraya launch placed a commercial telecommunications satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, with the spacecraft separating from the upper stage at 1,388 miles above South America.

The weight of the spacecraft fully fueled at the time of launch, was approximately 11,260 lbs (5,108 kg.). The 45-minute launch window opened at 10:52 pm (PDT). Launching from its equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude, Sea Launch inserted the spacecraft directly into the required 6.3 degree inclined orbit, an optimal orbital location for the Thuraya satellite.

About two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the first stage and then the payload fairing separated. About six minutes later, the second stage separated from the Block DM, or upper stage. After the first burn of the Block DM, the spacecraft coasted for 90 minutes, performing thermal maneuvers, such as a slow roll, to maintain a benign satellite environment. Following this coast, the Block DM made a second burn and then separated from the spacecraft about eleven minutes later. About 22 minutes after Block DM separation Boeing Satellite Systems acquired the signal of the spacecraft from a ground station in Italy.

Designed for a 12-year lifespan, the satellite is now positioned in Geosynchronous Orbit, 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above the Earth, at 44 degrees East Longitude and inclined at 6.3 degrees. It is among the post powerful satellites orbited to date, with 13.5 kilowatts. By December, the satellite had successfully completed its Initial Operational Test phase, during which the C-band antenna, solar wings and 12-meter-diameter L-band reflector were deployed and tested.

Daily Log:

Friday, October 20 (Day 17)
Bon voyage, Thuraya ...

Thursday, October 19 (Day 16)
Work in Progress ...

Wednesday, October 18 (Day 15)
Need More Time on Earth

Tuesday, October 17 (Day 14)
Tomorrow ...

Monday, October 16 (Day 13)
The skies are ready to split for a moment and let the earthling creation escape ...

Sunday, October 15 (Day 12)
The range is GO for launch...

Saturday, October 14 (Day 11)
We seem to be welcome in this eternal world of song and silence...

Friday, October 13 (Day 10)
Sea Launch is always ready...

Thursday, October 12 (Day 9)
Like the sun, we have pushed through the clouds...

Wednesday, October 11 (Day 8)
Sea Launch Commander and Odyssey are now side-by-side...

Tuesday, October 10 (Day 7)
Launch rehearsal...