Success for International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M launch vehicle carrying the Nimiq 4 satellite into space for Telesat at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at 3:48 a.m. today local time (5:48 p.m. Friday EDT, 21:48 Friday GMT). This was the fourth launch of the year, and 47th overall, for ILS. The satellite, built by EADS Astrium, was the second Eurostar 3000 bus launched by ILS in a little over a month. Proton builder Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow is the majority owner of ILS, which is based in Reston, Virginia. Telesat is 64 percent owned by Loral Space & Communications Inc. [Nasdaq:LORL] and the world's fourth largest fixed satellite services operator.

The launch vehicle carried the 5-ton satellite for 9 hours and 11 minutes, releasing it into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Ultimately the engineers at Astrium will move the satellite to 82 degrees West longitude, where it will make many folks happy as it delivers direct-to-home television across Canada. Nimiq 4 is fully leased to Bell TV, and enables Bell TV to expand its advanced digital satellite television services over Canada by offering more HDTV, specialty channels and foreign-language programming.

Nimiq 4 will enter into commercial service after it has successfully completed orbit raising and comprehensive in-orbit testing. The satellite, which will be located at 82 degrees West, is equipped with 32 active high-power transponders in Ku-band and eight in Ka-band. The spacecraft has a solar array span of 39 meters, an expected 15-year mission life, and a launch mass of approximately 4850 kg.

“Nimiq 4 is the fifth satellite we have launched for Telesat, and we look forward to launching Nimiq 5 next year,”said ILS President Frank McKenna.

“We thank ILS and Khrunichev for their dedication to providing a successful launch,” said Telesat President and CEO Dan Goldberg. “This is our fifth Proton launch and we value our strong relationship with ILS and Khrunichev."