Sea Launch Co

A communications satellite was lofted into orbit from an oceangoing rocket platform in the equatorial Pacific, said Sea Launch Co. in Long Beach. The Galaxy 18 satellite will provide television, data and communications services to Intelsat customers in North America and Hawaii.

Sea Launch Co., a Long Beach-based rocket launch company, said a Delaware judge on Tuesday approved a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization plan that would transfer control of the company from Boeing Co. to a Russian rocket engine maker. The company, which uses a converted oil-rig to launch rockets near the equator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009 after it could not pay a $52-million judgment against it in connection with a terminated launch contract. The judgment came shortly after a platform explosion in early 2007 destroyed a commercial satellite and set the company's operations back about a year.

A rocket launched in the Pacific Ocean by Long Beach-based Sea Launch Co. exploded during liftoff, destroying a Boeing Co.-built commercial communications satellite. The rocket, which was being launched from an oceangoing platform in the equatorial Pacific, was carrying an NSS-8 satellite built at Boeing's El Segundo factory and intended for use by Netherlands-based SES New Skies.

After struggling for nearly 15 years to prop up an unusual way to launch satellites into space, Boeing Co. is expected to throw in the towel and walk away from its stake in Long Beach-based Sea Launch Co. Kjell Karlsen, Sea Launch president, said Wednesday that Boeing was likely to have little or no ownership position in the rocket launch company after it emerges from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Court reorganization early next year. "Based on what Boeing has said to us, I don't expect them to commit any more capital to this venture," Karlsen said.

A Boeing-led firm scrapped the launch of a digital audio broadcast satellite about 30 seconds before the planned liftoff. Sea Launch Co. of Long Beach did not immediately explain the cancellation. Weather was favorable at the Odyssey launch platform in the Pacific Ocean, 1,300 miles south of Hawaii. The launch was supposed to send up the first of two digital audio broadcast satellites, to be known by the names Rock and Roll. XM Satellite Radio Inc.

A dummy satellite orbited 23,000 miles above Earth on Monday, signaling success for the innovative launch pad floating in the Pacific Ocean at the equator. The demonstration was a critical step for Sea Launch Co., which has put $500 million into the first commercial marine-based launch system in hopes of capturing a chunk of the growing business of boosting communications satellites. "The mission is considered a complete success," said Tim Dolan, spokesman for Boeing Co.

If all goes as planned, a rocket carrying a five-ton dummy satellite will lift off from a floating launch pad in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday as the commercial space race heads to sea. The test from a converted oil-drilling platform represents a critical challenge for an international consortium seeking lucrative contracts to launch the next generation of communications satellites.

Sea Launch Co., a Long Beach-based rocket venture that is 40% owned by aerospace giant Boeing Co., has filed for Bankruptcy Court protection, citing recurring losses from operations. The unusual company, which includes Russian, Norwegian and Ukrainian partners, said lower demand for lifting commercial satellites into space and a recent inability to secure financing to pay a $52-million arbitration ruling against it led to the Chapter 11 filing.

The World Bank is putting its financial muscle behind Sea Launch Co., an innovative but controversial project based in Long Beach to launch satellites from sea, bank officials in Washington said Wednesday. The multimillion-dollar project will use a converted and mobile oil-drilling platform to launch the satellites from a remote location in international waters about 1,000 miles south of Hawaii. Boeing Co.

Looking something like a runaway oil platform, a giant satellite launcher drew a flood of inquiries Tuesday from perplexed boaters and coastal residents as it drifted in the waters off Dana Point. The Sea Launch Odyssey, a renovated oil rig that is about two football fields long, is testing equipment for a future launch. But some jittery South County residents who spotted the Long Beach-based vessel floating three miles offshore weren't quite sure what to make of it.

Sea Launch Co., a Long Beach-based rocket venture that is 40% owned by aerospace giant Boeing Co., has filed for Bankruptcy Court protection, citing recurring losses from operations. The unusual company, which includes Russian, Norwegian and Ukrainian partners, said lower demand for lifting commercial satellites into space and a recent inability to secure financing to pay a $52-million arbitration ruling against it led to the Chapter 11 filing.

A communications satellite was lofted into orbit from an oceangoing rocket platform in the equatorial Pacific, said Sea Launch Co. in Long Beach. The Galaxy 18 satellite will provide television, data and communications services to Intelsat customers in North America and Hawaii.

A Long Beach-based venture that launches rockets at sea said Tuesday that it could begin launching again in October, about eight months after an explosion destroyed a commercial satellite and grounded operations. Sea Launch Co., a joint venture of Boeing Co., a Norwegian shipbuilder and Russian rocket makers, said the explosion was caused by an anomaly in the rocket's first-stage engine, which provides the initial thrust for liftoff. The failed launch Jan.

Dramatic video images captured Sea Launch Co.'s oceangoing platform being engulfed in a massive fireball when a rocket being launched from it exploded. But the Long Beach-based company said Thursday that the damage appeared to be limited.

A rocket launched in the Pacific Ocean by Long Beach-based Sea Launch Co. exploded during liftoff, destroying a Boeing Co.-built commercial communications satellite. The rocket, which was being launched from an oceangoing platform in the equatorial Pacific, was carrying an NSS-8 satellite built at Boeing's El Segundo factory and intended for use by Netherlands-based SES New Skies.

Long Beach-based Sea Launch sends commercial satellites into space using a self-propelled former oil platform as a launch pad. The unique system uses the partially submerged platform and an accompanying command ship to launch rockets for customers that have included DirecTV and XM Satellite Radio. Its next launch, the company's 24th, is set for Saturday. How it works: Preparing for the voyage 1.

A Long Beach-based venture that launches rockets at sea said Tuesday that it could begin launching again in October, about eight months after an explosion destroyed a commercial satellite and grounded operations. Sea Launch Co., a joint venture of Boeing Co., a Norwegian shipbuilder and Russian rocket makers, said the explosion was caused by an anomaly in the rocket's first-stage engine, which provides the initial thrust for liftoff. The failed launch Jan.

A team of Russians and Americans will be far out in the Pacific at the equator Wednesday to send a 9,500-pound television satellite into orbit from a floating launch pad. Sea Launch Co. is an unlikely rocket venture that is 40%-owned by aerospace giant Boeing Co. Its partners are RSC-Energia, a Russian rocket engine company; a Ukrainian rocket maker; and a Norwegian shipbuilder.