The Inmarsat-4, or I4-F3 broadband satellite to its friends, is a big satellite. Almost as big as a double decker bus and with an unfurled solar wingspan as wide as a football field, it needed an appropriately big ride into space. And so it hitched onto a Proton Rocket, a 58m-high, 700-ton monster used for sat positioning since 1996, but before that, used in the 1960’s to visit planets for scientific research and deliver parts of the International Space Station and Mir Space Station. The flight was perfect. [Baikonur Campaigns via BBC via io9]
Giant Cold-War Era Russian Proton Rocket Successfully Launches Giant Satellite Into Space
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