Intelsat S.A. announced today that a Sea Launch AG-provided Zenit-3SLB vehicle successfully lifted the Intelsat 18 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 5 p.m. EDT (21:00 GMT). The signal was acquired at 11:34 p.m. EDT (03:34 GMT) and after 6 hours and 35 minutes mission the satellite was deployed at its final GTO destination orbit of 5,517.6 X 35,785.2 kilometers X 19.5 degrees inclination. Built by Orbital Sciences Corporation, Intelsat 18 launch mass is 3200 kg with a useful life of nearly 17 years. It will replace Intelsat 701 at 180ºE and will provide Ku-band and C-band capacity to Pacific Ocean Region.
