Thuraya-2

 Built by Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo, Calif., near Los Angeles, the high-power Boeing GEM (geo mobile) spacecraft system includes Thuraya-1, Thuraya-2 and a ground spare, Thuraya-3. In October 2000, Sea Launch successfuly placed Thuraya-1 - at 5,108 kg (11,260 lb), the heaviest commercial spacecraft ever launched - into orbit. The system began commercial operations a few months later. The 5,177 kg (11,413 lb) Thuraya-2 spacecraft is designed to further support Thuraya's regional mobile communications services.

The Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, offers cost-effective, satellite-based mobile telephone services to nearly one third of the globe. Through its dynamic dual mode handsets and satellite payphones, Thuraya enhances freedom of movement and connectivity. The $1 billion (U.S.) regional mobile telecommunications via satellite (GMPCS) system is helping to meet the need for affordable, high-quality mobile phone services to urban hubs as well as remote communities. Through a partnership with leading national telecom and mobile communications companies, Thuraya provides blanket-to-blanket coverage to more than 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North and Central Africa, Central and Southern Asia - a landmass populated by an estimated 2.3 billion people. Thuraya offers satellite, GSM (cellular) service and location determination system (GPS) in a single dual-mode handset that offers voice, data, fax and short messaging services.

The Sea Launch team placed the Thuraya-2 satellite into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit, with the spacecraft separating from the upper stage at 1,388 miles above the Pacific Ocean. Launching from its equatorial launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude, Sea Launch inserted the spacecraft directly into the required 6.3 degree inclined orbit, an optimal orbital location for the Thuraya system.

Two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff, the first stage and then the payload fairing separated. Six minutes later, the second stage separated from the Block DM-SL, or upper stage. After the first burn of the Block DM-SL, the spacecraft coasted for one hour, performing thermal maneuvers, such as a slow roll, to maintain a benign satellite environment. Following this coast, the Block DM-SL made a second burn. Soon after spacecraft separation, Boeing Satellite Systems acquired a signal from the spacecraft at a ground station in Uralla, Australia.

Designed for a 12-15 year lifespan, the satellite will be positioned in Geosynchronous Orbit, 35,786 km (22,236 miles) above the Earth, at 44 degrees East Longitude and inclined at 6.3 degrees.

• June 10 - At L-7 hours... and counting... the Zenit-3SL rocket glows in the darkness of the Equator night... ready for liftoff.
• June 8 - At the launch site, the rocket is rolled out of its protective hangar and raised to a vertical position for a series of pre-launch tests.
• June 7 - Crews on the Launch Platform Odyssey and the Sea Launch Commander pose for the traditional L-72 pix.
• June 7 - Helicopter Operations are in full action between the Sea Launch Commander and the Odyssey Launch Platform at the launch site. Here, the helicopter in flight, and landing on the helo pad of the Launch Platform.
• June 5 - The Sea Launch Commander and the Odyssey Launch Platform on their approach to the launch site.
• June 4 - Dawn over the Launch Platform, as seen from the Sea Launch Commander.
• June 4 - Tom Sharp, helicopter pilot, and Peter Wenger, helicopter mechanic, prepare for the first helo flight of the mission, as the ships sail on together toward the launch site on the Equator.
• June 3 - The Sea Launch vessels meet at sea.
• June 1 - Abdul Aziz Al Mutawa, our Thuraya customer, sets up his office in the Sea Launch Commander.
• June 1 - Tom Thomas, the Sea Launch weatherman, studies incoming data in the weather station aboard the Sea Launch Commander.
• May 30 - Reidar Larsen, Øivind Kristoffersen and Jan-Reidar Volnes in the Engine Control Room of the Sea Launch Commander.
• May 30 - Lars Thoresen, Chef de Cuisine, with strawberries for the traditional Saturday candlelight dinner.
• May 30 - Valery Aliev, head of the Sea Launch rocket team, and Dan Dubbs, Mission Director, at the daily Mission Director's meeting.
• May 30 - Chess playing begins early in the voyage. As the launch team approaches the Equator, the focus will shift to the mission at hand.
• May 30 - Keen Redoble, ship's crew, engaged in corrosion control, paints equipment on the Sea Launch Commander .
• May 30 - Joseph Elcana in the Switchboard Room of the Sea Launch Commander.
• May 29 - Jimmy Harkins checks the pointing mechanism of the Intelsat tracking dish at the top of the Launch Platform Superstructure.
• May 29 - Ove Rosenberg, head of Catering Services on the Sea Launch Commander, and Abdulaziz Al Mutawa, representing Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, on the bridge as ship pulls out of the Port of Long Beach.
• May 29 - Crewmates Svein Harald Jenssen and Roberto Macalalad on the bridge of the Sea Launch Commander, during departure from Sea Launch Home Port.
• May 29 - Evacuation Drill underway on the Sea Launch Commander.
• May 29 - The Zenit-3SL rocket in transit to the launch site in the hangar on the Launch Platform
• May 29 - Tormod Hansen, Captain of the Sea Launch Commander, and Long Beach Harbor Pilots, maneuver out of the port.