Intelsat-15, acceleration unit separate from Zenit rocket.

MOSCOW, December 1 (Itar-Tass) - The orbital assembly, consisting of
the acceleration unit DM-SLB and the American communications satellite
Intelsat-15, has successfully separated from the carrier rocket Zenit
(zenith)-3SLB that blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at midnight.
An official at the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has told
Itar-Tass, "The orbital assembly continues flight along a path that
ensures the base line orbit inclination of 51.35 degrees".
The Roscosmos official specified, "Withn the next six hours the
orbital assembly, resultant of three ignitions of the sustainer engine of
the acceleration unit, will move onto a designated orbit where the
satellite is to separtate". In a geostationary orbit, the satellite will
take up a parking point of 85 degrees, eastern longitude.
The Intelsat-15, designed by Orbital Sciences Corporation, is a new
telecommunications satellite of the US Intelsat Company. It was developed
on the basis of the STAR-2 platform. It has 22 powerful Ku-band
transponders and is due to transmit television signal to and support
telecommunications with Russia, the Middle East, and the Far East.
Under contracts that Intelsat had concluded with Russian
communications companies and television channels, six transponders will be
used to cover the Russian territory. Part of transponders are owned by
Japan's satellite communications operator JSAT.
Intelsat has fitted out the satellite with two separate beams that
will be used by subscribers to mobile telephony services in the Indian
Ocean area and will provide broadband communications between Japan and
Asian countries. The liftoff weight of the satellite is 2,550 kg, and its
planned service length is 15 years.
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