Proton Failure Narrows Launch Window for Satmex 8

摘要

Satellite fleet operator Satmex said it remains confident that a Russian Proton rocket will launch its Satmex 8 satellite by December, giving the company sufficient time to transfer customers to it before Satmex 5, which the new spacecraft is replacing, runs out of fuel as early as late February. Satmex said the Aug. 7 failure of the Proton Breeze M rocket, the same vehicle slated to carry Satmex 8, will delay the Satmex 8 launch beyond its scheduled October date. But the company also noted that Russian managers in the past have proved able to return the launcher to flight in short order after failures. In an Aug. 23 conference call with investors, Satmex Chief Executive Patricio Northland said Proton launch services provider International Launch Services (ILS) has set no new launch date for Satmex 8. But he said the October slot looks lost as ILS and Proton prime contractor and ILS owner Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow, along with the Russian government, work to determine the cause of a problem with the rocket's Breeze M upper stage.