The missile was carrying a communications satellite destined for the Indian Ocean
In the photo: Preparations for the previous launch of Sea Launch. From the Boeing site, one of the company's partners
SEA LAUNCH's first launch of 2007 ended in failure when the Zenit 3SL launcher carrying the NSS-8 satellite of the SES New Skies broadcasting company was destroyed when launched from the company's marine launch platform in the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday (30/1/07).
Sea Launch made a brief statement that the missile behaved erratically during launch operations and that the company would establish a team to examine the causes of this abnormal behavior.
According to the company, no one was injured even though the incident took place on the launch pad and this is because the crew members are not on the launch rig during the launch itself but on a ship several kilometers away. A helicopter was sent to the launch pad to assess the damage. In the TV image, it appears that the lid of the launch platform was opened, filled with smoke.
The company planned to carry out six launches this year, including for the communication companies Acostar, Direct-TV, Intelsat, Spaceway and Toraya.
The communication satellite was supposed to be located at the latitude of 57 degrees East, over the Indian Ocean to provide coverage to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and Asia and to replace the company's NSS-703 satellite.
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You are right, the intention was the first launch for 2007. I will correct it in the text
This is not the first launch of this company.
The company has been launching satellites from this facility for the past two years
To the best of my knowledge, about 20 satellites have been launched from there to date.
And this is a technical fault that may happen. Overall, the site and the device are considered reliable and good