An International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze-M rocket on May 15 successfully placed the Eutelsat 3D Ku- and Ka-band telecommunications satellite into transfer orbit in the third of a planned six monthly commercial ILS launches scheduled through August. Eutelsat announced immediately after the launch that it had signed another contract with Reston, Va.-based ILS, for an unnamed satellite to be orbited between 2014 and 2016. Eutelsat has six satellites under construction and scheduled for launch by late 2015. Paris-based Eutelsat and satellite builder Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy confirmed that the 5,400-kilogram Eutelsat 3D, carrying 53 Ku-band and three Ka-band transponders, had begun solar array deployment in orbit and had been communicating with ground teams.
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