Eutelsat W3A launch.
March 16th 2004, and Hotbird 6 digital has special coverage of the launch of Eutelsat W3A from Baikonur. Unfortunately the technical quality of the broadcast wasn't as good as normal, so apologies for the slightly muddy quality of the pictures.
Before the coverage began, this test card ran for about 25 minutes, with the "Begins In" countdown running.
15 minutes 16 seconds to launch, and a nice view of the nose cone containing the W3A satellite.
13 minutes 4 seconds to launch, and we get a nice view of the Proton sitting on the launchpad.
Unfortunately we didnt get a nice view of the rocket actually blasting off the launch pad. Here we have a shot from 7 seconds after lift off. W3A roars away from the space port, 9 hours later it was safely in transfer orbit and heading for 7°E
This is the launch poster designed for this mission.
And finally, this is a reprsentation of what W3A will look like when it is in full service. Note the multiple reflectors.
All launch pictures are © ILS.
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