The company's Zenit-3SL vehicle lifted off at 12:50 a.m. Pacific Time from its Odyssey Launch Platform, positioned at 154 degrees west longitude in the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

All systems performed nominally throughout flight, Sea Launch said in a news release. The Block DM upper stage inserted the 4,640-kilogram (10,229-pound) Loral 1300-series spacecraft into its geosynchronous transfer orbit. Galaxy 16 will occupy a final orbital position of 99 degrees west.

A ground station at Hartebeesthoek, near Pretoria, South Africa, acquired the first signal from the satellite shortly after spacecraft separation.

Built by Space Systems/Loral, Galaxy 16 carries 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, designed to meet the needs of a variety of broadcast customers in the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada.

Galaxy 16 replaces Galaxy 4R and is the newest member of PanAmSat's North American Galaxy fleet. With this mission, Sea Launch has successfully launched four satellites for PanAmSat, including Galaxy 16, Galaxy 13/Horizons-1 in 2003, Galaxy 3C in 2002 and PAS-9 in 2000.

This is Sea Launch's sixth mission with a spacecraft built by Space Systems/Loral.

PanAmSat owns and operates a constellation of 24 satellites, providing video, broadcasting and network distribution and delivery services over nearly 2,000 television channels worldwide.

In all, the company's in-orbit fleet is capable of reaching over 98 percent of the world's population through cable television systems, broadcast affiliates, direct-to-home operators, Internet services providers and telecommunications companies.

PanAmSat supports the largest concentration of satellite-based business networks in the United States, as well as specialized communications services in remote areas throughout the world.

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