Apr 26 2005
From The Space Library
Spaceway 1, a DirecTV satellite, launched from Sea Launch's Odyssey floating platform at the equator aboard a Zenit-3SL rocket. Sea Launch used a self-propelled launch platform and a command ship that had sailed from Long Beach, California, to the equator. At the equator, the physics of Earth's rotation make it possible to launch heavier payloads than elsewhere. Sea Launch announced that the 13,376-pound (6,067.3-kilogram or 6.1-tonne) satellite was the heaviest commercial satellite ever launched. (Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 618; Associated Press, “DirecTV Satellite Launched from Sea Launch Ocean Platform,” 27 April 2005.)
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