November – Intelsat celebrated two successful launches just one week apart. On 23rd a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted Intelsat 14 into orbit carrying the first government payload hosted aboard a commercial satellite. The payload was Cisco’s Internet Router in Space (IRIS), designed to test the extension of IP routing into Earth orbit for the US Defense Department and commercial customers. Then on the 30th, Intelsat 15 was launched from Kazakhstan aboard a Land Launch Zenit 3SLB vehicle. The Intelsat 15 satellite will broadcast video and data services to Russia and the Middle East.

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