154 East - March 27, 1999SeaLaunch successfully lifted off Saturday at 8.30pm EST. The launch is the world's first commercial deployment of a rocket from a floating platform at sea.

154 East - March 27, 1999Ground support problems have been fixed and SeaLaunch has been cleared for launch at 8.30pm EST Saturday. The launch will be the world's first commercial launch from a floating platform at sea.

154 East - March 27, 1999The SeaLaunch maiden flight has been delayed two hours due to technical issues. Liftoff is expected at around 7.30pm EST Saturday. The launch will be the world's first commercial rocket launch from a floating platform at sea.

Long Beach - March 21, 1999 - With final preparations now complete, Sea Launch will undertake its maiden flight this Saturday, March 27, 1999, at 2:18pm PST. The launch will be the world's first commercial rocket launch from a floating platform at sea.

Sea Launch President Allen B. Ashby said the site will be in the Pacific at 154 West at the equator -- about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii. "This brings us to the final step before Sea Launch begins full operations later this year as a cost-effective, reliable commercial launch service."

Departing for the ocean launch site will be the Odyssey, a self-propelled launch platform, and the Sea Launch Commander, a floating mission control center and rocket assembly factory. On board the Odyssey in an environmentally controlled hangar is a 200-foot long, flight-ready Sea Launch rocket, with demonstration payload.

"The launch of the demonstration payload will validate the operation of the entire Sea Launch system and simulate the commercial communications satellites that Sea Launch will begin launching later this year," Ashby added.

At the equatorial launch site, the Odyssey will be partially submerged for added stability. The rocket will be withdrawn from its hangar on the platform, lifted into a vertical position, fueled with kerosene and liquid oxygen, and launched. The fueling and launch will proceed by remote control from the Sea Launch Commander -- the Odyssey crew having transferred to the Commander and that vessel having moved three miles away.

Sea Launch combines the resources of the world's leading aerospace and maritime companies. Partners in the international consortium are: Boeing Commercial Space Company, Kent, Wash., (provides spacecraft integration and the payload fairings); Kvaerner Maritime a.s., of Oslo, Norway (the vessel builder); RSC Energia of Moscow, Russia (provides the upper stage and its integration with the launch vehicle); and KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine (provides the first two stages of the launch vehicle).

Currently, Sea Launch has firm contracts for 16 launches.

Sea Launch Awards Fuel Contracts

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