Land Launch, a subsidiary of
Sea LaunchSea Launch is a spacecraft launch service that uses a mobile sea platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized Zenit 3SL rockets...
, conducts commercial launches of
Zenit rocketZenit is a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine. Zenit was built in the 1980s for two purposes: as a liquid rocket booster for the Energia rocket and, equipped with a second stage, as a stand-alone rocket...
s from
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45Site 45 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome is a launch site used by Zenit rockets. It consists of two pads, one of which is still in use. It has been the launch site for all Soviet and Russian government Zenit launches, along with a commercial launch conducted for Globalstar in 1998, and continuing...
. It operates two-stage Zenit-2SLB and three stage
Zenit-3SLBThe Zenit-3SLB or Zenit-3M is a Ukrainian expendable carrier rocket derived from the Zenit-2SLB. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, which were designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau...
rockets.
The first launch was conducted on 28 April 2008 at 05:00 GMT, when a Zenit-3SLB was used to place
AMOS-3AMOS-3, also known as AMOS-60 is an Israeli communications satellite operated by Spacecom. The satellite is powered by twin solar panels, and is based on the Israeli AMOS bus. It will replace AMOS-1 in geosynchronous orbit at 4°W...
(AMOS-60) into a
geosynchronous orbitA geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
.
The second flight would have launched
MEASATMEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd., formerly Binariang Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd is a Malaysian communications satellite operator.MEASAT is the name of a line of communications satellites owned and operated by the company.As of 2006, the MEASAT satellite network consists of three geostationary...
-3A, a Malaysian
communications satelliteA communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
, but the spacecraft was damaged by a crane while Land Launch was preparing it for a planned 21 August 2008 launch.
A second launch was completed on February 26, 2009 when Land Launch successfully launched the Telstar 11N mission.
Land Launch missions differ from Sea Launch missions in that the modernised Zenit-3SLB is used, as opposed to the
Zenit-3SLThe Zenit-3SL is an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it has been launched 30 times, with two failures and one partial failure. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. RKK Energia produces the Block DM-SL upper...
, a smaller and hence lighter payload fairing is used, and the rocket inserts the payload directly into a
geosynchronous orbitA geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
, rather than leaving it in a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Launches
| Number |
Date |
Type |
Serial-No. |
Launch Site |
Payload |
Payload Type |
Orbit |
Outcome |
Remarks |
| 1 |
2008-04-28 |
Zenit 3SLB |
|
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45 |
AMOS-3 AMOS-3, also known as AMOS-60 is an Israeli communications satellite operated by Spacecom. The satellite is powered by twin solar panels, and is based on the Israeli AMOS bus. It will replace AMOS-1 in geosynchronous orbit at 4°W...
|
Commercial communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
|
GSO A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
|
Success |
First Land Launch flight |
| 2 |
2009-02-26 |
Zenit 3SLB |
|
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45 |
TelstarTelstar is the name of various communications satellites, including the first such satellite to relay television signals.The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 was launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962...
11N |
Commercial communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
|
GSO A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
|
Success |
|
| 3 |
2009-06-22 |
Zenit 3SLB |
|
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45 |
MEASAT-3a |
Commercial communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
|
GSO A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
|
Success |
|
| 4 |
2009-11-30 |
Zenit 3SLB |
|
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45 |
Intelsat 15 Intelsat 15 is a communications satellite owned by Intelsat. Intelsat 15 was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, on a Star-2 Bus. Intelsat plans to locate Intelsat 15 at 85° E longitude...
|
Commercial communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
|
GSO A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
|
Success |
|
| 5 |
2011-10-05 |
Zenit 3SLB |
|
Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45 |
Intelsat 18 |
Commercial communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...
|
GSO A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
|
Success |
|
External links