OREANDA-NEWS. April 28, 2010. Russia-built Proton M launch vehicle which lifted off from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 15:19 Moscow Time (11:19 GMT, 17:19 Baikonur) April 24  successfully deployed the SES-1 (AMC-4R) communications satellite directly into geostationary orbit for SES WORLD SKIES, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG).  Control of the satellite has been handed over to the customer. This was the fifth overall Proton launch this year, reported the press-centre of Khrunichev.
 
Proton Breeze M is an upgraded version of the principal heavy-lift vehicle in Russia’s space programme, the Proton, and has been widely used to insert governmental and commercial payloads into orbit. The Proton has consistently demonstrated reliability and incredible rate of launches.

With the SES-1 launch, the Proton has 22 consecutive successful missions over the last 21 months.
 
The new SES-1 satellite was built by Orbital Sciences Corporation and will join SES WORLD SKIES’s fleet of satellites that serve customers in North America.

The SES-1 will be deployed at the orbital position of 101 degrees west.

International Launch Services Inc. (ILS) has been awarded a contract for launching the SES-1 satellite on a Proton M rocket.  ILS has exclusive rights to market the Proton vehicle and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, Va., near Washington, D.C.  The Russia’s Khrunichev Space Center of Moscow - the developer and manufacturer of the Proton launch vehicle and the Breeze M upper stage - holds the majority interest in ILS.  This was  the third ILS Proton launch of 2010 year and  the 59th ILS Proton launch overall.  The SES-1 was the 17th SES Group satellite launched with ILS Proton, and the 3rd OSC-built spacecraft launched with ILS.