SpaceQ Space news and analysis.
Today at 3:12 p.m. EDT today a Russian Proton M launch vehicle launched the Telesat Nimiq 6 satellite into an eventual Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), a stationary location that keeps the satellite over one spot of the Earth as both the satellite and Earth rotate.
Nimiq 6 is a commercial communications satellite built by Space Systems/Loral. The satellite has a 32 transponder Ku-Band payload providing coverage of Canada. The satellite will be located at 91.1 West longitude. This satellite will be dedicated to the provision of direct-to-home TV services for Bell.
The Proton M launched vehicle lifted off from pad 24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first three stages of the Proton used a standard ascent profile to place the orbital unit, a Breeze M upper stage and the Nimiq 6 satellite, into a sub-orbital trajectory. At this point in the mission, the Breeze M will be used to perform mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit to take it to a geostationary transfer orbit and lastly to be placed in GEO.
The launch is being managed by International Launch Services (ILS) who have exclusive rights to market Proton launch services for commercial and civil satellite programs world-wide.
Moving the ILS Proton-M launcher with Nimiq 6 to the launch pad. (In Russian)
Launch of Nimiq 6
