[Satellite News – 1-15-08] Sea Launch returned to flight with the launch of the Thuraya-3 mobile communications satellite Jan. 15, the first mission since the January 2007 failure of the Zenit-3SL vehicle carrying a satellite for SES New Skies. 
    “They’re back, which is a really good thing because the market really needs all three major commercial launch systems to be operating and fully functioning this year to catch up on last year,” said Andrea Maleter, technical director for Futron Corp. “It’s very good news for the industry to have everyone back on track.” 
Thuraya-3, which was launched at 6:49 a.m. EST, was placed into geosynchronous orbit and separated 99 minutes after liftoff. A ground station in Fillmore, Calif., acquired signals from the satellite nearly two hours after liftoff, satellite manufacturer Boeing Co. announced. Thuraya-3 will provide mobile voice and data services from its orbital slot at 98.5° East.
    Launch failures are inevitable, "but it doesn’t mean if you have a solvent business plan and a solvent technical and logistical operation that you can’t overcome that,” said Maleter.
The Thuraya-3 mission starts off a what Sea Launch hopes will be a busy year. The launch provider’s manifest is full for 2008 with eight more missions planned, including five for Sea Launch and three for its new Land Launch service from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which will debut this spring. The next mission for Sea Launch is DirecTV-11 in March.
    “We have a big manifest planned for this year, and so having this success now where we can move forward is great,” said Sea Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn. “We’ve learned a lot about the launch site in terms of conditions and our capabilities.”