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Current Campaign Blog: BADR-4
Main Team & SC Arrivals The Main Campaign Team arrived safely at Baikonur early yesterday afternoon. This group of 30 consists primarily of Astrium personnel, a consultant to ARABSAT from Telesat, and a few other support personnel. The photo shows the arriving Main Team as they clear Kazakh customs with the charter aircraft in the background. Now we have a complete crew and we can get on with the important business at hand.
Today saw our most important arrival, the BADR-4 (aka ARABSAT-4B) spacecraft. After several days of fantastic, beach-like weather here, we woke up this morning to a glimpse of things to come. We were hit with high winds and cold temperatures as we boarded the 8 a.m. bus to the airfield. We made it in time to greet the massive Antonov aircraft that transported the spacecraft and other equipment from Toulouse, France, where it was built. With regular trips back to the bus to warm up, the crew managed to offload the precious cargo in a very smooth operation. Despite the tremendous size of the cargo hold, the spacecraft container has a tight fit. In a carefully orchestrated operation, the container is hoisted from the Antonov ramp onto a rail car (using Khrunichev's brand new mobile crane) for the six-hour train ride to the processing facilities. The train carrying BADR-4 arrived safely tonight and the next step will be the unpacking process.
Photo: Main Team Arrival. Visit the Photo Gallery for more pictures. Posted 10 October 0 comments Posted By: ILS BADR-4 Team at 20:42, Baikonur Catching Up Today is Sunday, our first day off, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on the Early Team activities so far. First, we are happy to report that all Early Team members heeded the early morning wakeup call in Moscow and our charter flight departed from Moscow on time. After a smooth three hour flight, the team arrived in Baikonur enthusiastic and energized as clearly depicted in the bus photo. Along the route from the airport to the hotel area, we were greeted by wild horses crossing the road, a pack of 50 camels (coincidentally, that's one per arriving passenger), and even a caged "Wolf" (actually our computer/network engineer thusly named).
The Early Team activities have progessed well as we prepare the facilities for the arrival of the Main Team and then the spacecraft. Many recent improvements to the infrastructure have been observed here, including roadway repairs, residential building renovations, and ongoing exterior upgrades at the processing facilities. It is obvious that the launch organizations are committed to a bright, successful future for the Cosmodrome and the Proton programs.
The general consensus is that we are being treated to the the finest weather that any of us can remember here. Blue, cloudless skies, gentle breezes, and daytime temperatures in the 70's. Perfect weather for an outdoor barbecue which is how we ended our first Sunday, under a gorgeous full moon, after many team members spent the day in Baikonur Town. Although this is not the most lush location on earth, the vegetation in front of the Fili affords a touch of Fall as the leaves slowly turn colors. Today is definitely a bit of a breather before the busy schedule triggered by the arrival of the Main Team tomorrow and the BADR-4 spacecraft on Tuesday.
Posted 09 October 0 comments Posted By: ILS BADR-4 Team at 09:01, Baikonur Next Stop... Baikonur! With great anticipation, the BADR-4 "early team" has gathered in Moscow for tomorrow's charter flight to Baikonur. This early team consists of about 50 personnel from ILS; ARABSAT, the end customer; Astrium, the contractual customer and spacecraft manufacturer; Khrunichev; DTSA, the Defense Technology Security Administration; Pinkerton Security; and other support staff whose job it is to prepare the Baikonur facilities for the launch campaign. Another charter flight will arrive on 9 October carrying the "main team". A flurry of activities will take place in these next few days to ready the launch site for the spacecraft arrival on 10 October. We have cleared all the usual logistic hurdles with all essential personnel having Russian visas and security access to Baikonur. Thanks to all the hard work of each organization, we are working no significant issues at this time.
BADR-4 is also known as "ARABSAT-4B" and it is nearly identical to the ARABSAT-4A spacecraft. Both are Eurostar 2000+ satellites built by Astrium in Toulouse, France. This mission is somewhat unique in that is has a 4-hour mission duration (from liftoff to spacecraft separation), compared to the typical 9+ hour Proton/Breeze M mission profile. Many launch team members -- both in Baikonur and McLean, Va. -- appreciate the shorter launch day support associated with a 4-hour mission.
Now it is time to get some rest because the bus leaves at 7 a.m. sharp tomorrow for the Moscow airport. Fortunately, we are expecting pleasant weather for the start of our launch campaign. Next stop Baikonur!!
Posted 04 October 0 comments Posted By: ILS BADR-4 Team at 23:38, Moscow Welcome to the BADR-4 Launch Campaign Thank you for joining us for our second launch campaign blog -- Arabsat's BADR-4.
If you followed along with our previous campaign blog, we're glad to have you back with us. If this is your first time joining us, we welcome you and trust that you will enjoy this chance to take an inside look at daily life on a launch campaign.
We have added an on-site blog photo album where we will post the latest pictures from Baikonur. Also, be sure to drop us a note using our comments feature.
Posted 03 October 2006 0 comments Posted By: ILS Communications Team at 14:23, EDT
A Proton rocket
A Proton rocket which was intended to launch the JCSAT-11 satellite into a geostationary transfer orbit lifted off and successfully completed its first stage burn, but the second stage failed leading to loss of the rocket and satellite.

The launch vehicle was a Proton M booster with a Breeze M upper stage. More than 300 Proton rockets have been launched, all from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Following the launch failure, Kazakhstan suspended the launch of Proton rockets from Baikonur, Interfax news agency reported.

JSAT Corporation immediately placed an order with Lockheed Martin, the satellite manufacturer, for an identical replacement satellite based on the A2100AX design.