Ciel II Blog
+ Successful Mission
We are happy to announce the successful conclusion of
another launch mission! The Proton M Breeze M rocket has
carried to geostationary transfer orbit the Ciel II
satellite, built by ThalesAlenia Space for the Ciel
Satellite Group. Spacecraft separation occurred on schedule,
at 17:55 EST. Total launch time was 9 hours, 12 minutes.
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+ Down to the last burn
The Breeze M has completed its 3rd and 4th burns, and the
additional propellant fuel tank has been jettisoned. The
vehicle is now in a five-hour coasting period. The 5th, and
final, burn will occur at the end of this period. The 5th
burn will last about 7 minutes, and about 15 minutes after
that we will have separation of the Ciel II spacecraft.
We'll let you know the mission is complete the moment we
have confirmation.
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+ 2nd Burn
The Breeze M's second burn has been completed successfully.
The third burn will start in about two hours. Once the third
burn concludes, the Breeze M will shutdown and jettison the
additional propellant tank. Moments later, the Breeze M's
4th burn will begin. We'll confirm completion of the 4th
burn as soon as we have official word.
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+ Launch Highlight Video Clips
Video clips of the launch are now posted in Real Video and
Windows Media Player formats. You can find them
here!
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+ Breeze M completes 1st burn
We have confirmed completion of the Breeze M's first burn.
The second burn should commence in about 54 minutes and will
fire for just under 18 minutes. This will happen while the
Orbital Unit is out of range of a receiving station, so
we'll be back when we have reacquired the vehicle and
confirmed that the second burn has been completed.
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+ 1st Burn Firing
The first-, second-, and third-stage separations of the
Proton M vehicle have been completed. Now it's up to the
Breeze M upper stage to take over, and the vehicle has just
begun its first burn. We'll announce completion of the burn
as soon as we have confirmation.
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+ Liftoff!
We have liftoff of the Ciel II satellite, powered by the
Proton M Breeze M rocket. During the first 10 minutes of
this 9-hour, 12-minute mission, the three stages of the
Proton M vehicle will ignite and separate in turn. This will
be followed by the first burn of the Breeze M upper stage.
That should happen in about 11 minutes. We'll be back with
an update then.
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+ Rollout Commission Meeting, L-5 Days to Launch
Breeze M fuel loading was completed right on schedule late
Saturday afternoon. As we like to say after every important
milestone, "Everything was nominal!" Considering the
hazardous nature of the load operations, “nominal” is
the RIGHT answer! Time to send the integrated launch vehicle
(ILV) on its final journey prior to launch: transport to
Launch Pad 39.
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