Launches
The first demonstration satellite was launched on March 27, 1999 and the first commercial satellite on October 9, 1999. Sea Launch has launched 29 rockets with 26 successes and 1 partial success as of September 2008. The first failure, of a Hughes-built communications satellite owned by ICO Global Communications, occurred on the second commercial launch on March 12, 2000 and was blamed on a software error that failed to close a valve in the second stage of the rocket.
A second rocket failed to launch on January 30, 2007, when Zenit-3SL exploded on the launch pad with the Boeing 702 NSS-8 satellite on board, seconds after engine ignition.
All Sea Launch missions to date have used the custom-designed three-stage Zenit-3SL launch vehicle, capable of placing up to 6,000 kg of payload in geosynchronous transfer orbit. Sea Launch rocket components are manufactured by SDO Yuzhnoye / PO Yuzhmash in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (Zenit rocket for the first and second stages); by Energia in Moscow, Russia (Block DM-SL for third stage); and by Boeing in Seattle, United States (payload fairing and interstage structure).
Sea Launch rockets are assembled in Long Beach, California. The typical assembly is done on board the Assembly and Command Ship (the payload is first tested, fueled and encapsulated in the nearby Payload Processing Facility). The rocket is then transferred to a horizontal hangar on the self-propelled launch platform.
Following rocket tests, both ships then sail about 4,828 km to the equator at 154° West Longitude, 0°N 154°W / 0°N 154°W / 0; -154, in international waters about 370 km from Kiritimati, Kiribati. The platform travels the distance in about 11 days, the command ship in about eight days.
With the platform ballasted to its launch depth of 22 m, the hangar is opened, the rocket is mechanically moved to a vertical position, and the launch platform crew evacuates to the command ship which moves about five kilometers away. Then, with the launch platform unmanned, the rocket is fueled and launched. The final ten seconds before launch are called out simultaneously in English and Russian.
| Number | Date | Payload | Mass | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1999-03-27 | DemoSat | 4.5 t | success |
| 2 | 1999-10-09 | DIRECTV 1-R | 3.5 t | success |
| 3 | 2000-03-12 | ICO F-1 | 2.7 t | failure |
| 4 | 2000-07-28 | PAS-9 | 3.7 t | success |
| 5 | 2000-10-20 | Thuraya-1 | 5.1 t | success |
| 6 | 2001-03-18 | XM-2 ROCK | 4.7 t | success |
| 7 | 2001-05-08 | XM-1 ROLL | 4.7 t | success |
| 9 | 2002-06-15 | Galaxy IIIC | 4.9 t | success |
| 9 | 2003-06-10 | Thuraya-2 | 5.2 t | success |
| 10 | 2003-08-07 | EchoStar IX/Telstar 13 | 4.7 t | success |
| 11 | 2003-09-30 | Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 | 4.1 t | success |
| 12 | 2004-01-10 | Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 | 4.7 t | success |
| 13 | 2004-05-04 | DIRECTV-7S | 5.5 t | success |
| 14 | 2004-06-28 | Telstar-18 | 4.8 t | launch anomaly |
| 15 | 2005-03-01 | XM-3 | 4.7 t | success |
| 16 | 2005-04-26 | SPACEWAY-1 | 6.0 t | success |
| 17 | 2005-06-23 | Intelsat IA-8 | 5.5 t | success |
| 18 | 2005-11-08 | Inmarsat 4-F2 | 6.0 t | success |
| 19 | 2006-02-15 | EchoStar X | 4.3 t | success |
| 20 | 2006-04-12 | JCSAT-9 | 4.4 t | success |
| 21 | 2006-06-18 | Galaxy 16 | 5.1 t | success |
| 22 | 2006-08-22 | Koreasat 5 | 4.9 t | success |
| 23 | 2006-10-30 | XM-4 | 4.7 t | success |
| 24 | 2007-01-30 | NSS-8 | 5.9 t | failure |
| 25 | 2008-01-15 | Thuraya-3 | 5.2 t | success |
| 26 | 2008-03-19 | DirecTV-11 | 5.9 t | success |
| 27 | 2008-05-21 | Galaxy 18 | 4.6 t | success |
| 28 | 2008-07-16 | EchoStar XI | 5.5 t | success |
| 29 | 2008-09-24 | Galaxy 19 | 4.7 t | success |
| 30 | 2009-04-20 | SICRAL 1B | 3.0 t | success |
| 31 | 2011-09-24 | Atlantic Bird 7 | 4.6 t | success |
| 32 | 2012-05-31 | Intelsat 19 | 5.6 t | success |
| 33 | 2012-08-19 | Intelsat 21 | 6.0 t | success |
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