The Sea Launch team has initiated a 72-hour countdown in preparation for the launch of the JCSAT-9 communications satellite, scheduled for Wednesday, April 12 (revised from April 11), at the opening of a 34-minute launch window, at 4:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time (23:30 GMT).

With launch site operations now underway at 154 degrees West Longitude on the Equator, the Odyssey Launch Platform is ballasted to its launch depth and stationed alongside the Sea Launch Commander (Assembly and Command Ship).

A Zenit-3SL rocket will be rolled out of its environmentally protected hangar and automatically erected on the launch pad. The platform will be evacuated, with all personnel safely stationed on the ship, three miles uprange from the platform, during final preparations for launch operations. On launch day, the rocket will lift the 4401 kg (9,703 lbs) JCSAT-9 satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO), on the way to its final orbital position of 132 degrees East Longitude.

This is Sea Launch’s second mission for the JSAT Corporation and the second mission with a spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. The high-power hybrid A2100AX spacecraft carries C-band, Ku-band and S-band transponders and is designed for a minimum mission life of 12 years on orbit. JCSAT-9 will join nine other JSAT spacecraft currently in orbit, covering North America, Hawaii, Asia and Oceania with communications and broadcasting services for corporate and inter-company networks as well as international telecommunications services.

Sea Launch will carry a live satellite feed and streaming video of the entire mission, beginning at 4:20 pm PDT (23:20 GMT). Transponder coordinates for downlinking this feed will be posted at: www.boeing.com/nosearch/sealaunch/broadcast.html. A simultaneous webcast may be accessed at: www.sea-launch.com/current_index_webcast.html

Sea Launch Company, LLC, headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., is the world’s most reliable commercial launch services provider. With the advantage of a launch site on the Equator, the robust Zenit-3SL rocket can lift a heavier spacecraft mass or provide longer life on orbit, yielding best value plus schedule assurance. Sea Launch offers the most direct and cost-effective route to geostationary orbit. For additional information about this mission, please visit the Sea Launch website at: www.sea-launch.com