Launched January 30 at 01:20 msk from Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Proton Breeze M integrated launch vehicle (ILV) successfully delivered the Eutelsat 9B telecom satellite into orbit. This first launch of 2016 is the 410th mission in Proton’s history.
Both the lift-off and the ascent events proceeded nominally. In the course of a nominal launch, the orbital unit (comprising the Eutelsat 9B SC and Breeze-M upper stage) separated from the Proton launch vehicle at the designated time, and continued its mission in the autonomous mode. Subsequently, the spacecraft was injected in its target orbit using the Breeze-M upper stage main engine.
As per mission design, about 9h 12 min after the rocket liftoff, at 10:42 a.m. Moscow Time, on January 30, the spacecraft separated from the upper stage. Separated spacecraft mass was approximately 5,162kg. Satellite control was transferred to its customer - one of the leading international operators, Eutelsat Communications of Paris, France.
The Eutelsat 9B satellite is intended to provide digital TV and data services over the Nordic and Baltic countries. The satellite was built by the Toulouse-based Airbus Defense and Space, the French division of Europe’s Airbus Group.
The launch of Eutelsat 9B was performed as part of the long-term Proton M launch services contract signed in October 2015 between the International Launch Services (ILS), a Khrunichev Space Center subsidiary, and Eutelsat. Eutelsat 9B was the 11th Eutelsatsatellite launched on an ILS Proton. The mission also marks the 92nd ILS Proton launch overall.
The Proton rocket and the Breeze-M upper stage booster were designed, and are serially produced, by the Khrunichev Space Center.The modernized Proton-M / Breeze-M upper stage configuration is capable of providing a GTO delivery for payloads with a mass in excess of 6 MT. Over the past 15 years, as many as 12 spacecraft were launched on the Proton LV for the Eutelsat orbital group.
