Marks The Company's 400th Proton Mission

International Launch Services (ILS) successfully launched the Yamal-401 satellite into geosynchronous orbit on an ILS Proton for JSC Gazprom Space Systems (Gazprom) of Moscow.  This was the landmark 400th mission for the Proton launch vehicle since its first flight in 1965.

The ILS Proton Breeze M vehicle launched from Pad 24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 0616 local time Friday. The first three stages of the Proton vehicle used a standard ascent profile to place the orbital unit (Breeze M upper stage and the Yamal-401 satellite) into a sub-orbital trajectory. Utilizing a 4-burn Breeze M flight design, the Breeze M performed its planned mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit, followed by a transfer orbit, and finally to a geosynchronous orbit where the satellite was successfully separated from the Breeze M.

Phil Slack, president of ILS commented, “We thank Gazprom for the opportunity to launch this important satellite and to help expand their business with the launch of Yamal 401, the second launch for Gazprom by ILS. We are grateful for the mission teams of Gazprom, ILS, Khrunichev, ISS Reshetnev and Thales Alenia Space for their dedication to mission success throughout the entire campaign.”

This was the 86th ILS Proton mission overall and the 2nd ILS Proton launch of 2014. The Proton Breeze M vehicle is developed and built by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow, the majority shareholder in ILS.

(Image provided by ILS)

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