Proton Successfully Launches Two Geostationary Satellites

摘要

An International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket on July 16 successfully placed two telecommunications satellites into separate orbits in the first commercial demonstration of the rocket's ability to carry two geostationary-orbiting spacecraft at a time, ILS and the satellites' owners said. Operating from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Proton vehicle and its Breeze-M upper stage first placed the 3,150-kilogram SES-3 satellite, owned by SES of Luxembourg, into geostationary transfer orbit about eight hours after liftoff.