It may be the holidays for many around the world, but International Launch Services (ILS) and Boeing have been working to successfully carry the DIRECTV 12 satellite into orbit today launched from Pad 39 at the cosmodrome at 6:22 a.m. today local time (7:22 p.m. EDT, 00:22 GMT) for DIRECTV of El Segundo, California, on an ILS Proton. Boeing [NYSE: BA] has received the first on-orbit signals of the satellite, weighing over 5.9 metric tons, from DIRECTV 12 nine hours after launch into geostationary transfer orbitindicating that the satellite is healthy and operating normally.

DIRECTV 12 is a Boeing 702 commercial satellite that will provide consumer television programming to millions of U.S. households. The DIRECTV 12 satellite was built on the Boeing 702 platform by Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems and will serve to expand DIRECTV’s HD capacity by 50 percent with over 200 national channels and 1,500 local HD and digital channels and more advanced services for its 18 million customers nationwide. The satellite will receive and transmit programming throughout the United States with two Ka-band reflectors, each measuring 2.8 meters in diameter and nine other Ka-band reflectors.

Handover of DIRECTV 12 is scheduled for early 2010. Together with DIRECTV 10 and 11, the new satellite will help significantly expand DIRECTV's HDTV broadcasting to consumers across the contiguous United States, Hawaii and Alaska.

This was the seventh and final commercial launch of 2009 for ILS and the 56th ILS Proton launch overall. ILS Proton launched the DIRECTV 10 satellite just two years ago, demonstrating the enhanced Proton capability which became the standard configuration for future missions. This was the 351st launch for the Proton, following the landmark 350th Proton launched just two weeks earlier on 14 December. The Proton Breeze M vehicle is developed and built by Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center of Moscow, one of the pillars of the Russian space industry.

“DIRECTV placed their trust and confidence in ILS two years ago with a very significant launch with the DIRECTV 10 satellite. At that time, it was the largest satellite launched by Proton, demonstrating the increased capabilities of the vehicle. Now, with DIRECTV 12, DIRECTV once again entrusted their business to us with the continuation of this successful partnership. We are very proud to play a significant role in the expansion of digital television services in the United States with DIRECTV,” said ILS President Frank McKenna.

“At DIRECTV, we are proud to say that we have had many successful firsts, including the introduction of HD. We relied on ILS Proton in 2007 to launch DIRECTV 10 and knew that the same professionalism and flawless technical performance would be applied to the launch of DIRECTV 12. We thank the entire mission team from ILS, DIRECTV and Boeing, for their dedication and commitment to this launch,” said Jim Butterworth, DIRECTV Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations.

"Yesterday's launch marks the 10th satellite Boeing has built and launched for DIRECTV, as well as the 22nd Boeing 702 satellite to fly in space," said Craig Cooning, Boeing vice president and general manager of Space and Intelligence Systems. "We are pleased that DIRECTV 12 is performing as planned and will continue to support the satellite through on-orbit testing in the coming months. From design and integration to launch and signal acquisition, our team has ensured that DIRECTV's new 702 will help them continue to deliver high-definition (HD) digital programming while maintaining excellent quality service."