Satellite Launched at Sea
The word from the rocket scientists in Japan is good:
JSAT Corporation ("JSAT"; Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kiyoshi Isozaki) is pleased to announce that today it has successfully launched JCSAT-9 communications satellite. JCSAT-9 lifted off at 08:30 a.m. (Japan Standard Time) from a launch platform at 154º West Longitude on the Equator (approximately 2,240km south of Hawaii on sea). After this launch, JCSAT-9 was also successfully separated from its launch vehicle.
Sea Launch, an international consortium of Ukrainian, Norwegian, Russian and U.S. companies, does a great job of describing the launch sequence. And an even better job of broadcasting it (watch the video presentation).
