Proton resumption puts Sirius 4 back on track

[BGonaSTICK]

The Sirius 4 satellite has been delivered to the Baikonour Cosmodrome ahead of its launch on the Proton rocket in November. The SES Sirius craft was delayed after the September 6 Proton failure and the loss of the JCSAT II satellite.

SES participated in the Failure Review Oversight Board and the company says it was given full visibility of the investigation’s findings. A Russian State Commission concluded a damaged c@ble had prevented activation of the pyro bolts that were to have separated the first and second stages of the rocket.

The launch of Sirius 4, which will join the Sirius fleet serving the Nordic and Central European markets from 5 degrees East, is scheduled to launch on November 18, 2007. The timetable is dependent on the October 25 launch of three Russian Glonass navigation satellites.

Both launches will be watched closely by Telenor, which was originally scheduled to launch its Thor 5 satellite in November, following the Sirius launch.

Source: broadbandtvnews