BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW

Follow the countdown and launch of the Russian Proton rocket carrying the Canadian Anik F1R telecommunications satellite. Reload this page for the very latest on the mission.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2005
0800 GMT (4:00 a.m. EDT)

SUCCESS. A powerful broadcasting platform to beam television, data and air-traffic navigation signals across North America arrived in orbit early Friday, capping a 9-hour ascent atop a Russian-made rocket. Read our launch story.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005
2220 GMT (6:20 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 27 minutes. ILS says the Breeze M performed its initial burn.

The Breeze M upper stage and Anik F1R are supposed to enter a coast period that will last until T+plus 68 minutes, 25 seconds when the stage re-ignites for a 16.5-minute firing to reach an intermediate orbit.

A third burn begins at T+plus 3 hours, 29 minutes and lasts 12 minutes. Following completion of its third burn of the mission, the Breeze M will jettison its emptied Additional Propellant Tank. The stage then restarts at T+plus 3 hours, 41 minutes for a 4.5-minute burn. A final 7.5-minute burn will occur at T+plus 8 hours, 52 minutes.

The Anik F1R spacecraft will be deployed into its targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit with a high point of about 22,300 miles, a low point of approximately 2,000 miles, and an inclination of around 10 degrees. Separation of the satellite from the upper stage to complete the launch is expected at T+plus 9 hours, 11 minutes.

We'll update this page when the next information is released from International Launch Services.

2208 GMT (6:08 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 15 minutes. The precise liftoff time was 2153:40 GMT.

2205 GMT (6:05 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 12 minutes. The Breeze M upper stage should have ignited for its first firing. But confirmation will not be announced in real-time. This initial firing by the Breeze M will last about 7.5 minutes to reach a low-altitude parking orbit around Earth.

2203 GMT (6:03 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 10 minutes. The third stage engine cutoff has occurred and the spent stage separated as expected. The Breeze M upper stage and attached Anik F1R spacecraft are on a suborbital trajectory in preparation for the first of five planned firings by the upper stage to reach geosynchronous transfer orbit over the next 9 hours.

2200 GMT (6:00 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 7 minutes. The third stage will fire for another two-and-a-half minutes.

2159 GMT (5:59 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 6 minutes. The second stage has been jettisoned and the Proton third stage has ignited as planned. Also, the payload fairing enclosing the Anik F1R spacecraft atop the rocket has separated.

2158 GMT (5:58 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 5 minutes. Standing by for burnout and separation of the second stage.

2157 GMT (5:57 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 4 minutes. A good flight so far.

2156 GMT (5:56 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 3 minutes. The second stage engines are firing normally. Combustion chamber pressures are tracking as expected.

2155 GMT (5:55 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The first stage engines have shut down and the spent stage has separated. The four second stage engines have ignited to continue boosting the vehicle to space.

2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 90 seconds. Good engine performance is being reported.

2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 60 seconds. The vehicle is now approaching the period of maximum dynamic pressure during its climb through the atmosphere.

2154 GMT (5:54 p.m. EDT)

T+plus 40 seconds. All six liquid-fueled engines on the first stage are firing as the rocket maneuvers to the proper heading for its climb to space.

2153 GMT (5:53 p.m. EDT)

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Proton rocket launching the Canadian Anik F1R communications spacecraft to relay television broadcasts and assist aviation navigation across North America.

2151 GMT (5:51 p.m. EDT)

T-minus 2 minutes. The master computer sequencer remains in control of the countdown.

2148 GMT (5:48 p.m. EDT)

T-minus 5 minutes. The launch readiness of the Proton core vehicle, Breeze M upper stage and Anik F1R spacecraft will be verified over the next few minutes in the countdown.

2145 GMT (5:45 p.m. EDT)

T-minus 8 minutes and counting. International Launch Services, the joint venture formed in 1995 to market American Atlas and Russian Proton rockets, is managing today's mission. This will be the 34th Proton flight for ILS and the third of 2005.

2143 GMT (5:43 p.m. EDT)

T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The weather is favorable for today's Proton launch with a temperature of 15 degrees C and winds from the southwest at 3 to 6 meters per second.

2141 GMT (5:41 p.m. EDT)

T-minus 12 minutes and counting. All systems appear to be "go" for today's commercial launch of the Russian Proton rocket to place the Anik F1R communications spacecraft into orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Liftoff will occur at 2153 GMT (5:53 p.m. EDT).

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005

Canada's leading satellite operator will receive a new member of its spaceborne family today when a replacement craft is scheduled to begin its mission to broadcast television throughout North America.

Named Anik F1R, the satellite will be launched aboard a 1.5 million pound Russian Proton rocket at 2153 GMT (5:53 p.m. EDT), or in the pre-dawn hours at launch pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The Proton-M booster features three core stages that will deliver an upper stage and the Anik F1R payload into an initial suborbital trajectory. Beginning at liftoff, the Proton first stage's six RD-275 powerplants will push the rocket away from Earth with over two million pounds of thrust in the first two minutes of flight.

After first stage separation, four engines aboard the second stage will ignite and fire for three-and-a-half minutes before shutting down and jettisoning. The Proton's third stage will then come to life for its four-minute job, during which the protective payload fairing shielding the precious cargo will be let go after reaching the upper atmosphere.

The first ten minutes of the mission will pave the way for exhaustive work of the Breeze-M upper stage, which conducts five burns to gradually nudge Anik F1R toward its final home in space. The stage will first place the integrated vehicle in a parking orbit a little over 100 miles high, before the remaining four steps raise altitude and reduce orbital inclination.

Spacecraft separation is due at 9 hours, 11 minutes after liftoff in a geostationary transfer orbit with a high point of about 22,300 miles, a low point of approximately 2,000 miles, and an inclination of around 10 degrees.

Anik F1R's on-board propulsion system will complete the task of circularizing the orbit to an altitude of 22,300 miles along the Equator, and controllers will later command the craft to fly into an orbital slot at 107.3 degrees West longitude over the eastern Pacific Ocean.

During the commissioning phase, the spacecraft will unfurl its twin massive power-producing solar panels that stretch over 115 feet tip-to-tip.

From there, the satellite will test its 32 Ku-band transponders and 24 C-band channels before pressing the communications suite into service within the next few months to serve customers in Canada and the United States. Amidst the television broadcasting component of Anik F1R's duties are transmission of Internet and multimedia products.

Also included aboard the 9,900-pound bird is a dual-band navigation payload that will be used by air traffic controllers to help enhance their current ability to track aircraft in congested skies across the continent.

Telesat Canada will take over control of the newly launched satellite in the coming weeks, and Anik F1R will be in position to complement the Anik F1 craft launched in 2000. The Boeing-built older member of the fleet was struck by degradation of the satellite's solar arrays -- a design flaw -- which reduces its intended 15-year lifetime.

Anik F1R was built by the European EADS Astrium firm and is based on that company's E3000 design of the Eurostar family of satellites.

"Telesat is a leading operator recognized worldwide for its technical expertise, and we thank them for the confidence it has placed in us and the Eurostar spacecraft for its most recent procurements," said Antoine Bouvier, EADS Astrium CEO. "We are delighted with the excellent teamwork developed with the Telesat residents monitoring the progress of the project at EADS Astrium facilities.

Today's launch will mark the third use of the Proton by Telesat Canada in the history of International Launch Services, the joint U.S.-Russian group that commercially markets Atlas and Proton rockets.