from the sea launch platform ocean odyssey sea launch is a multinational spacecraft launch service that used a mobile maritime launch platform for equatorial launches of commercial payloads on specialized zenit 3sl rockets through 2013 . by 2013 it had assembled and launched thirty one rockets with three failures and one partial failure . all commercial payloads have been communications satellites intended for geostationary transfer orbit with such customers as echostar directv xm satellite radio panamsat and thuraya . the launcher and its payload are assembled on a purpose built ship sea launch commander in long beach california usa . it is then positioned on top of the self propelled platform ocean odyssey and moved to the equatorial pacific ocean for launch with the sea launch commander serving as command center . the sea based launch system means the rockets can be fired from the optimum position on earth s surface considerably increasing payload capacity and reducing launch costs 1 compared to land based systems . sea launch mothballed its ships and put operations on long term hiatus in 2014 following the russian military intervention in ukraine . by 2015 discussions on disposition of company assets are underway and the sea launch partners are in a court administered dispute about unpaid expenses that boeing claims it incurred . in september 2016 s7 group owner of s7 airlines announced they were purchasing sea launch . 2 contents 1 history 2 ownership and business 3 launches 4 nss 8 launch failure 5 concerns and investigations 6 land launch 7 advantages of equatorial ocean platform based launches 8 recognition 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit sea launch was established in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from norway russia ukraine and the united states managed by boeing with participation from the other shareholders . 3 4 the first rocket was launched in march 1999 . 5 on march 17 2006 it was announced that jim maser the president and general manager of sea launch would leave the company to join spacex as president and chief operating officer . 6 in june 2009 the provider of the sea launch service sea launch co. llc filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . 7 8 sea launch asserted that it would continue to maintain all normal business operations after the filing for reorganization . 9 on august 6 2010 energia which already owned 25 % of sea launch announced it planned to acquire a controlling interest of 85 % in the company . as a result the company planned to begin land based launches from the baikonur cosmodrome in early 2011 while sea based launches to be resumed in september 2011 . 10 needs update sea launch emerged from bankruptcy effective october 27 2010 . 11 energia overseas limited a russian corporation is majority owner of the reorganized entity with boeing and other american companies retaining minority shares . in 2013 boeing sued rsc energia po yuzhnoye and kb yuzhnoye . according to boeing the companies refused to pay more than 350 million following the joint venture s bankruptcy filing in 2009 . 12 in mid 2014 following the 2014 russian military intervention in ukraine and the subsequent unrest in the eastern part of the country there were a number of russian media reports that indicated sea launch may be planning to mothball the odyssey launch platform . the company formally denied those reports in june 2014 indicating it is continuing to buy zenit rockets from ukraine and is still promoting its launch services to the international market 13 even in august 2014 . 14 however in august 2014 sea launch conducted a reduction of their staff and removed from operating status both the commander and odyssey vessels in order to reduce operating costs during a period where they have no launches scheduled until late 2015 . 14 in july 2015 industry experts stated that the chinese government was considering the purchase of the sea launch command ship and launch platform assets but this was not confirmed by either company or chinese government officials . 15 in september 2015 boeing won a court judgement against the russian and ukrainian partners within sea launch . the decision sets up a court trial planned for november 2015 where boeing will argue that it was not properly reimbursed for us 356 million of expenses incurred while operating the sea launch launch system . 16 this litigation was decided in favor of boeing on may 12 2016 . 17 as of december 2015 roscosmos and energia are attempting to find a buyer for the sea launch assets due to the high cost of infrastructure maintenance of approximately us 30 million per year . 18 in september 2016 s7 group owner of s7 airlines announced they were purchasing sea launch . 2 ownership and business edit sea launch was founded by four companies from four countries which shared the original ownership of cayman islands registered sea launch . 19 after reorganising from chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 a majority share of the company was acquired by russian interests . 12 20 founding company nation of origin initial share 19 1995 to 2010 share 12 since 2010 contribution energia russian federation 25 % 95 % block dm sl rocket stage it is used in the zenit 3sl rocket as its 3rd stage boeing commercial space united states 40 % 2.5 % system integration payload enclosures nose cone that protects the satellite during launch aker solutions norway 20 % 2.5 % launch platform ocean odyssey and command ship sea launch commander sdo yuzhnoye po yuzhmash ukraine 15 % 0 % two stage zenit rocket used as zenit 3sl s stages 1 and 2 the project was helped by hughes space and communications which in 1995 signed the first contract for 10 launches and 10 options valued at 1 billion and space systems loral which then signed a five launch contract . total cost of the project has been reported at 583 million in 1996 . chase manhattan arranged about 400 million in loans in 1996 . loans were later guaranteed against political instability in russia and ukraine through 2012 by the world bank up to 175 million of these up to 100 million in russia and up to 75 million in ukraine and the european bank for reconstruction and development up to 65 million . 4 sea launch has a reciprocal agreement with arianespace and mitsubishi heavy industries through the launch services alliance providing assurance in case either company s system is not able to launch a payload for reasons of reliability capacity backlog or otherwise . this was used for the first time in 2004 when arianespace s ariane 5 had to reschedule a group of launches for reliability reasons . in 1999 shortly after the company was founded the sea launch consortium claimed that their launch related operating costs would be lower than a land based equivalent due in part to reduced staff requirements . the platform and command ship have 310 crew members . 21 launches edit see also list of zenit launches sea launch launch platform ocean odyssey the first demonstration satellite was launched on march 27 1999 and the first commercial satellite on october 9 1999 . sea launch has launched 29 rockets with 26 successes and 1 partial success as of september 2008 . the first failure of a hughes built communications satellite owned by ico global communications occurred on the second commercial launch on march 12 2000 and was blamed on a software error that failed to close a valve in the second stage of the rocket . a second rocket failed to launch on january 30 2007 when zenit 3sl exploded on the launch pad with the boeing 702 nss 8 satellite on board seconds after engine ignition . all sea launch missions to date have used the custom designed three stage zenit 3sl launch vehicle capable of placing up to 6 000 kg 13 000 lb of payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit . 22 sea launch rocket components are manufactured by sdo yuzhnoye po yuzhmash in dnipropetrovsk ukraine zenit rocket for the first and second stages ; by energia in moscow russia block dm sl for third stage ; and by boeing in seattle united states payload fairing and interstage structure . sea launch rockets are assembled in long beach california . the typical assembly is done on board the assembly and command ship the payload is first tested fueled and encapsulated in the nearby payload processing facility . the rocket is then transferred to a horizontal hangar on the self propelled launch platform . following rocket tests both ships then sail about 4 800 km 3 000 mi to the equator at 154 west longitude 0 n 154 w 0 n 154 w 0 ; 154 in international waters about 370 km 230 mi from kiritimati kiribati . the platform travels the distance in about 11 days the command ship in about eight days . with the platform ballasted to its launch depth of 22 m 72 ft the hangar is opened the rocket is mechanically moved to a vertical position and the launch platform crew evacuates to the command ship which moves about five kilometres 3.1 mi away . then with the launch platform unmanned the rocket is fueled and launched . the final ten seconds before launch are called out simultaneously in english and russian . number date payload mass result 1 1999 03 27 demosat 4.5 t success 2 1999 10 09 directv 1 r 3.5 t success 3 2000 03 12 ico f 1 2.7 t failure 4 2000 07 28 pas 9 3.7 t success 5 2000 10 20 thuraya 1 5.1 t success 6 2001 03 18 xm 2 rock 4.7 t success 7 2001 05 08 xm 1 roll 4.7 t success 8 2002 06 15 galaxy iiic 4.9 t success 9 2003 06 10 thuraya 2 5.2 t success 10 2003 08 07 echostar ix telstar 13 4.7 t success 11 2003 09 30 galaxy xiii horizons 1 4.1 t success 12 2004 01 10 telstar 14 estrela do sul 1 4.7 t success 13 2004 05 04 directv 7s 5.5 t success 14 2004 06 28 telstar 18 4.8 t launch anomaly 15 2005 03 01 xm 3 4.7 t success 16 2005 04 26 spaceway 1 6.0 t success 17 2005 06 23 intelsat ia 8 5.5 t success 18 2005 11 08 inmarsat 4 f2 6.0 t success 19 2006 02 15 echostar x 4.3 t success 20 2006 04 12 jcsat 9 4.4 t success 21 2006 06 18 galaxy 16 5.1 t success 22 2006 08 22 koreasat 5 4.9 t success 23 2006 10 30 xm 4 4.7 t success 24 2007 01 30 nss 8 5.9 t failure 25 2008 01 15 thuraya 3 5.2 t success 26 2008 03 19 directv 11 5.9 t success 27 2008 05 21 galaxy 18 4.6 t success 28 2008 07 16 echostar xi 5.5 t success 23 29 2008 09 24 galaxy 19 4.7 t success 24 30 2009 04 20 sicral 1b 3.0 t success 25 31 2011 09 24 atlantic bird 7 4.6 t success 32 2012 05 31 intelsat 19 5.6 t success 26 33 2012 08 19 intelsat 21 6.0 t success 34 2012 12 03 eutelsat 70b 5.2 t success 35 2013 02 01 intelsat 27 6.2 t failure 27 36 2014 05 26 eutelsat 3b 6.0 t success 28 nss 8 launch failure edit see also nss 8 the sea launch nss 8 launch explosion on january 30 2007 . the explosion has obscured the floating launch pad platform . on january 30 2007 the sea launch zenit 3sl rocket carrying nss 8 and 500 tons of fuel 29 exploded on launch . 30 available imagery 31 shows a fireball much larger than the launch platform at sea level