The ViaSat 1 satellite unfurled its power-generating solar arrays this morning as the spacecraft prepares to begin orbit-raising maneuvers tomorrow, manufacturer Space Systems/Loral says.

"The successful launch of ViaSat 1 is the culmination of well over one and a half million labor hours of hard work," said John Celli, president of Space Systems/Loral. "With four decades of experience building broadband and Ka-band satellites, Space Systems/Loral has been pleased to play a role in another important next step in the evolution of satellite broadband."

"The successful ILS Proton launch of ViaSat 1 is a crucial part of our growth strategy to allow customers to be connected anywhere at any time and at higher speeds. This much anticipated launch is an integral step in paving the way for more affordable and better quality bandwidth to meet consumer's increasing demands. We applaud the teams at ILS, Khrunichev and Space System's Loral who worked tirelessly to ensure a flawless mission and launch," said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO.

And check out the launch photo and video gallery!

LAUNCH SUCCESS! The Breeze M upper stage has accomplished its job, carrying ViaSat 1 into geosynchronous transfer orbit and deploying the satellite tonight.

ViaSat 1 begins a 15-year life of serving direct-to-home Internet connections from space for consumers across the U.S. and Canada.

"When we started this journey about five years ago, our claims of a 100 gigabit per second satellite were met with much skepticism. But now thanks to the hard work from my colleagues at ViaSat, Space Systems/Loral, ILS and Khrunichev, that dream is going turn into reality," said Mark Miller, ViaSat vice president and chief technology officer.

"ViaSat 1 tips the scales at about 140 gigabits per second. That's more capacity than all satellites over North America combined. This capacity in the satellite promises to transform the broadband experience on satellites."

Satellite operator ViaSat Inc. of Carlsbad, California, will use the craft to improve the connectivity for subscribers of WildBlue in the U.S. and Xplornet in Canada, plus support JetBlue's inflight Internet.

"It's really the first-of-its-kind, a new class of a satellite that's totally oriented towards high throughput, high bandwidth," said Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO.

Built by Space Systems/Loral, the ViaSat 1 is a Ka-band satellite outfitted with 72 beams to cover 75 percent of the Continental United States, as well as the most populated areas of Alaska, Hawaii and Canada.

"About three years ago, ViaSat approached us with ideas for a satellite with three times the capacity of anything we'd ever done before. We like challenges so we took it on," said Chris Hoeber, Space Systems/Loral senior vice president of systems engineering.

With the spacecraft now flying its in launch orbit, ViaSat 1 must use its onboard engine over the next several days to reach a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the planet where it can match Earth's rotation and appear fixed along the equator at 115 degrees West longitude.

"We know a lot of people think they understand satellite broadband now. They think of it as being expensive and slow and sluggish. We think all of those root issues (are) bandwidth. We're going to be able to change those economics, change the way people perceive satellite broadband," said Dankberg.

"This satellite, this capacity is going to make an enormous difference in the value of the services that people get the first day we turn it on."

Today represented the 68th commercial Proton mission under the guidance of International Launch Services and the fourth this year. And the 14,900-pound ViaSat 1 also became the largest payload ever carried by an ILS Proton rocket.

"This is the most powerful Ka-band satellite to be implemented over North America and we're just proud to be a part of that program," said ILS President Frank McKenna.

The next Russian government-led launch for the Proton rocket is slated for early November with three Glonass navigation satellites. ILS also plans a commercial mission in November to deploy the AsiaSat 7 communications spacecraft.

The final four-and-a-half-minute push was delivered by the Breeze M main engine while flying high over the Indian Ocean a short time ago. Standing by for spacecraft separation to complete the long launch sequence.

The upper stage and attached ViaSat 1 satellite are currently in the midst of a five-hour coast period prior to the fifth and final firing by the Breeze M tonight.

International Launch Services reports that the third and four burns took place as planned. The maneuvers included a nine-and-a-half-minute firing, then a pause to jettison the now-emptied extra fuel tank, followed by an eight-minute engine firing as the rocket flew over South America and the Atlantic Ocean.

Breeze M now resides in a highly inclined, highly elliptical orbit, with a targeted low point of 266 miles, a high point of 22,254 miles and inclination of 49.1 degrees relative to the equator.

One final burn remains later tonight to raise the orbit's low point to 1,468 miles and substantially reduce the inclination to 30.4 degrees.

Spacecraft separation to complete the launch is expected at 0400 GMT (12:00 a.m. EDT).

The second burn has been conducted by the Breeze M upper stage, boosting the rocket and its ViaSat 1 payload from the initial low-altitude circular parking orbit of about 110 miles at 51.5 degrees inclination.

This latest firing, lasting almost 18 minutes over the Atlantic Ocean and Africa as the vehicle was nearing completion of the first orbit, was designed to raise the altitude.

The new intermediate orbit is elliptical in nature, with a targeted low point of 167 miles, a high point of 3,107 miles and inclination of 50.3 degrees relative to the equator.

Breeze M now coasts until around 2216 GMT (6:16 p.m. EDT) when the next two burns occur back-to-back with only a brief pause in between to shed the donut-like auxiliary propellant tank.

The Breeze M upper stage and ViaSat 1 are now in a coast period that will last until T+67 minutes, 43 seconds. That is when the stage re-ignites for an 17-minute, 42-second burn.

A third firing will begin at T+plus 3 hours, 28 minutes and last for nine-and-a-half 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+3 hour, 39 minutes for an eight-minute firing.

A final four-and-a-half-minute burn will occur at T+plus 8 hours, 54 minutes to finish shaping the orbit.

Spacecraft separation to complete the launch is targeted to occur at T+plus 9 hours, 12 minutes, or 0400 GMT (12:00 a.m. EDT).

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T+plus 21 minutes, 15 seconds. International Launch Services reports that the first burn of Breeze M was successfully completed. Today's mission is going according to plan.

T+plus 14 minutes, 45 seconds. The Breeze M upper stage did ignite to achieve a low-altitude parking orbit around Earth. This burn should last about seven-and-a-half minutes in total duration.

T+plus 10 minutes, 40 seconds. Telemetry confirms that the third stage finished firing and jettisoned, finishing the Proton M rocket's role in the ascent. The Breeze M upper stage now must perform its five burns.

T+plus 9 minutes. The third stage should complete its burn in about a minute, followed by separation of the spent motor. The Breeze M and attached ViaSat 1 spacecraft will then be 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 several hours.

T+plus 6 minutes, 30 seconds. Second stage separation has occurred and ignition of the Proton third stage has been confirmed. Also, the payload fairing enclosing the ViaSat 1 spacecraft atop the rocket has separated.

T+plus 3 minutes. The Proton continues streaking to space on the power of the second stage. Vehicle performance is reported normal.

T+plus 2 minutes, 10 seconds. The first stage engines have shut down and the spent stage has separated. The four second stage engines are up and burning as planned.

T+plus 90 seconds. Just over a half-minute remaining in the first stage burn. Everything is looking good with the flight.

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

T+plus 30 seconds. The Proton rocket is performing its roll maneuver to achieve the proper launch heading for flight downrange. All six first stage liquid-fueled engines are up and burning.

LIFTOFF! Liftoff of the Russian Proton rocket and the ViaSat 1 satellite to provide broadband Internet from space.

T-minus 60 seconds. All systems remain "go" for liftoff.

T-minus 2 minutes. The countdown is being run by a master computer sequencer.

T-minus 5 minutes. The launch readiness of the Proton core vehicle, Breeze M upper stage and ViaSat 1 spacecraft will be verified over the next few minutes in the countdown.

T-minus 10 minutes and counting. The Proton rocket weighs 1,554,000 pounds as it sits on the launch pad. The ViaSat 1 spacecraft accounts for 14,900 pounds of the weight.

T-minus 12 minutes and counting. At launch the Proton's six first stage engines will fire together to propel the 191-foot-tall rocket into the middle-of-the-night sky at Baikonur. Liftoff is scheduled for 48 minutes past midnight local time at Baikonur.

Weather conditions are within limits for today's Proton launch. The latest report at Baikonur indicates a temperature of 78 degrees F, a northerly wind at 11 to 18 mph and mostly clear skies.

The live launch broadcast begins streaming now. Clocks continue to count toward a liftoff at 1848 GMT.

Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. This will be:

• 369th Proton rocket launch since 1965
• 68th International Launch Services Proton
• 49th Proton M using a Breeze M upper stage since 2001
• 6th Proton of 2011 and 4th for ILS
• 19th SS/L-made satellite on ILS Proton
• 1st satellite for ViaSat

Retraction of the launch pad's mobile service tower from the Proton rocket has begun as preparations continue for today's ascent of the ViaSat 1 communications satellite.

The three-stage Proton core vehicle and Breeze M upper stage are fully fueled, a process that began about six hours before launch time. Liftoff remains on schedule for 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The six engines on the Proton first stage will ignite at launch to push the 19-story rocket away from Earth on two million pounds of thrust. After first stage separation two minutes into flight, four engines aboard the second stage fire for three-and-a-half minutes before shutting down and jettisoning. The Proton's third stage then comes to life for its four-minute job, during which time the protective payload fairing shielding ViaSat 1 will separate.

The Breeze M upper stage then assumes control of the mission to conduct a series of five critical burns spread across nine hours to propel the payload into the proper orbit today.

A sophisticated broadband satellite to provide direct-to-home Internet connections from space for customers across the U.S. and Canada will be hauled into orbit today by Russia's commercial Proton heavy-lifting rocket.

Launch of the Proton M booster fitted with a Breeze M upper stage carrying the ViaSat 1 satellite cargo is scheduled for 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT) from pad 39 at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Watch this page for live updates and streaming video coverage beginning at 1830 GMT (2:30 p.m. EDT).

Satellite operator ViaSat Inc. of Carlsbad, California, will use the craft's communications relay capacity to serve subscribers of WildBlue in the U.S. and Xplornet in Canada.

Built by Space Systems/Loral, the ViaSat 1 is a Ka-band satellite outfitted to use 72 beams for coverage to 75 percent of the Continental United States, as well as the most populated areas of Alaska, Hawaii and Canada.

The climb to orbit will be another of the Proton/Breeze M vehicle's marathons. The lower three stages of the Khrunichev-built Proton will fire during the mission's first 10 minutes. Five burns of the Breeze M upper stage will follow over the next nine hours to reach the targeted geosynchronous transfer orbit for release of ViaSat 1.

The rocket's flight is managed by International Launch Services, the Proton's chief marketer to commercial satellite companies. It will be the 68th ILS Proton dating back the past 15 years.

The lower Proton stages leave the combined upper stage and ViaSat vehicle on a suborbital trajectory. The first Breeze M firing is needed to achieve a temporary parking orbit around Earth at an altitude of 110 miles, inclined 51.5 degrees.

The next four Breeze M firings will methodically raise the orbit and reduce inclination before deploying the ViaSat 1 spacecraft into an orbit with an apogee of 22,236 miles, perigee of 1,468 miles and inclination of 30.4 degrees.

The rocket's separation from the satellite is expected at 0400 GMT (12:00 a.m. EDT) to complete the launch sequence.

ViaSat 1 will rely upon its onboard engine in the subsequent days to reach a circular geostationary orbit 22,300 miles above the planet where it can match Earth's rotation and appear fixed along the equator at 115 degrees West longitude.

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The Russian Proton rocket carrying the ViaSat 1 broadband communications satellite to serve the U.S. and Canada was transported by rail to its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad Sunday. Blastoff is scheduled for Wednesday at 1848 GMT (2:48 p.m. EDT).

See the rollout photo and video gallery!