Following that launch, ILS plans two additional Proton Breeze M missions this year, based on its customers' satellite delivery schedules, the company said in a news release.

HOT BIRD 8 arrived in Baikonur Thursday morning, the release said. Weighing 4.9 tons and equipped with 64 Ku-band transponders for television and radio broadcasting, HOT BIRD 8 will be the largest satellite yet orbited by Eutelsat.

This is ILS' second Proton mission of the year and fourth launch overall for 2006. ILS suspended missions with the Breeze M upper stage after a Feb. 28 launch failed to place the Arabsat 4A satellite into the correct orbit.

ILS said it is ready to return to flight with its Proton M/Breeze M vehicle, now that a Russian State Commission and an independent review panel have concluded their inquiries into that failure.

"As we start the launch campaign, we acknowledge the confidence of our long-standing customer Eutelsat in the Proton M/Breeze M vehicle," said Mark Albrecht, ILS's president.

"The Proton M launch vehicle has a 100 percent success rate, and the reliability of the Breeze M upper stage remains one of the highest in the industry," Albrecht said. "With the arrival of the satellite, all the flight hardware is in place to start operations."

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