OREANDA-NEWS.  January 22, 2014. International Launch Services (ILS) a leading commercial launch services provider, has received the first launch assignment from Intelsat of the two missions announced in March 2013.
 
The satellite, Intelsat DLA-2 , also known as Intelsat 31, will be launched by ILS Proton in 2015 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan utilizing the vehicle’s Phase IV performance capability. A high power satellite, Intelsat DLA-2 is currently under construction by SSL of Palo Alto California, based on the flight proven 1300 platform. The 6 metric ton satellite will provide in orbit protection services for the DIRECTV Latin America Direct-to-Home (DTH) television platform, a leading DTH digital television services operator in Latin America. This will be the 11th ILS Proton launch for Intelsat and the 5th mission to support DIRECTV.
 
The second Intelsat satellite launch assignment awarded to ILS will be announced in the future.