• Satellite Delivery to the Payload Processing Facility, Sea Launch Home Port
• Payload Rollout from the Payload Processing Facility to the Sea Launch Commander
• Rocket Transfer from the Ship to the Odyssey Launch Platform
• Rocket Rollout and Erection on launch pad for final tests
• Departure of the Odyssey Launch Platform
• Departure of the Sea Launch Commander
• Arrival at Equatorial Launch Site, countdown begins
• Launch of NSS-8 satellite

The high-power, state-of-the-art NSS-8 satellite is a Boeing 702 spacecraft that carries 56 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders, and is designed to be the centerpiece of the New Skies global communications network. NSS-8 will support a wide range of functions, including broadcast applications, government and military operations, corporate communications and Broadband Internet services. The satellite will provide coverage to two-thirds of the globe, serving countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Designed for a 15-year lifespan, NSS-8 will have 18 kilowatts of total power at the beginning of life on orbit.

Based in the Netherlands, SES NEW SKIES offers video, Internet, data and voice communications services to a wide range of broadcasters, Internet Service Providers, network integrators, telecommunications companies and government entities, and serves over 250 customers in 79 countries. The company operates a global fleet of five communications satellites currently in orbit; NSS-8 is due for launch in January 2007 and one under construction (NSS-9) as well as ground facilities around the world.

A Zenit-3SL launch vehicle will lift the 5,920 kg (13,051 lb.) NSS-8 communications satellite to an optimized geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), on its way to a final orbital position of 57 degrees East Longitude.

Two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the first stage of the rocket will separate and then the payload fairing will jettison. About eight-and-a-half minutes into the mission, the second stage will separate from the Block DM upper stage. The engine of the Block DM will ignite for a 4-and-a-half-minute burn, after which the spacecraft will enter a coast period of 30 minutes. The Block DM will then ignite for a second burn, for a 7-minute duration and then separate from the spacecraft 10 minutes later, over the Indian Ocean. A ground station in Gnangara, Australia, is expected to acquire the first signal from NSS-8 in orbit, shortly after spacecraft separation.