The schedule for the remainder of Sea Launch’s 2007 manifest remains uncertain following the loss of a Zenit-3SL vehicle and the SES New Skies NSS-8 satellite Jan. 30.

A live Internet broadcast of the launch by Sea Launch was cut off as a fireball enveloped the platform seconds after the anticipated liftoff, though a video clip later posted on the Web site YouTube.com indicated that the vehicle never cleared the floating Odyssey launch platform, a converted oil rig.

Sea Launch reported only that the vehicle “experienced an anomaly today during launch operations. All personnel at the launch site are safe and accounted for.” Sea Launch spokeswoman Paula Korn said the company planned to issue a statement late Wednesday but had not made any more information available at press time.

In early January, Rob Peckham, president and general manager of Sea Launch, said the company was “hitting our stride” with six launches scheduled for 2007.

Marco Caceres, a space analyst for Teal Group, said “clearly it’s going to set them back at least six months. It will depend on what the investigation concludes.” While Sea Launch “was clearly on a roll” with their 2007 manifest, the analyst said “they definitely won’t do five or six this year,” and likely only half of those if all goes well after the investigation.

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