[May 14, 2013] EchoStar Satellite Services and ILS awarded new satellite launch contract Tweet May 14, 2013 (M2 EQUITYBITES via COMTEX) -- EchoStar Satellite Services, a provider of advanced satellite communications solutions, and International Launch Services (ILS), a provider of launch services for global satellite operators, announced on Monday a new launch service award for the ILS Proton launch of a future heavy-lift mission. Financial details of this award were not available. The companies said that a satellite, weighing over 6,900 kilogrammes, is planned to be launched into geostationary transfer orbit on an ILS Proton Breeze M in the late 2015 or early 2016 timeframe from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton vehicle is Russia's premier heavy lift launcher and is built by Khrunichev Research and Space Production Centre of Moscow, a majority shareholder of ILS. Reportedly, until date, there have been five EchoStar satellites launched on an ILS Proton rocket. EchoStar Satellite Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corporation (Nasdaq:SATS). Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]