LockMart Makes First Proton/Breeze Sale
Washington, DC, - September 19, 1997 -
Washington, DC, - September 19, 1997 - Just twelve weeks after its
introduction at the Paris Air Show, Lockheed Martin has sold the first unit of the new upgraded Proton M booster using the advanced Breeze M upper stage. The Intelsat Board of Governors announced Wednesday Intelsat had selected the Proton M/Breeze M launcher to lift the Intelsat 901 spacecraft. The contract award marks the first-ever Intelsat use of Russian launcher, and is the result of months of negotiations and discussions between Intelsat representatives and International Launch Services (ILS), the launch marketing arm of Lockheed Martin. The flight is to take place between May and August 2000. Sources report that Intelsat has optioned the Proton M configuration for additional launch opportunities in the post-2000 time frame.
As reported by SpaceCast from the Paris Air Show last June, Lockheed and
Khrunichev announced it was replacing the Proton's Block D upper stage,
used for the past 20 years on the Proton, with the more advanced Breeze
design. Scheduled to enter service in 1998, the Proton M can lift 6600 lbs
to geostationary orbit, a 40% increase over the earlier Proton Block D
design. Six commercial Proton launches were planned for 1997, with 2
remaining, the next carrying the Astra 1G satellite next month. Proton
Block D manifest orders stand at 22 for launches through 1999. The Breeze
is believed to make the commercial Russian vehicle more competitive against
the French Ariane 5 vehicles. The second Ariane 5 is set for launch Sept.
30th, returning to flight following the 1996 midair explosion of Ariane 501.
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