DirecTV Satellite Launch Friday at 8:50 pm EDT
DirecTV customers have been promised 100 HD channels by September — and the delivery of that promise is riding on a rocket that launches tomorrow night.
The Proton Breeze M launch vehicle will lift off from Pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, with the DIRECT 10 satellite on board. According to the International Launch Services (ILS) website, "this will be the debut of the Enhanced Proton Breeze M, which is capable of launching spacecraft over 6,000 kg into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO)."
The payload is the Boeing-built Direct 10 satellite:
DIRECTV’s next-generation satellite features state-of-the-art antenna and payload subsystem that will provide customers with unparalleled national and local HDTV (High Definition Television) service. The powerful 131-transponder payload integrates 32 active and 12 spare TWTAs at Ka-band for national service and 55 active and 15 spare TWTAs for spot beams. The payload is powered by a gallium arsenide solar array that spans more than 48 meters. DIRECTV 10 will receive and transmit programming throughout the United States with two large Ka-band reflectors, each measuring 2.8 meters in diameter, and nine other Ka-band reflectors.
ILS is running a launch blog, where the most recent entry chronicles the rocket’s journey out to Pad 39 on Tuesday:
The rather uneventful train trip out to the pad could be watched from various points around Area 95 and drew the biggest crowd of onlookers we have seen out here so far. Everyone who wanted to attend was permitted on the pad deck to watch the incredible sight as the assembled ILV rolled horizontally into position next to the flame bucket. Then it was hydraulically rotated to its vertical launch position.
Talk about a photo opportunity. Pictures, videos, Russian and Americans alike… everyone tried to capture it in as many ways as they could. One of the favorite pictures to take is to pose as if one hand is pushing the rocket to vertical. It never really DOES look like one person is doing the lifting, but it is a tradition to try and get that shot to commemorate this exciting day.
The launch will be webcast live here. Also be sure to check out this photo gallery.
