International Launch Services boosted AsiaSat 4, a high-power Boeing Satellite Systems 601HP spacecraft, into orbit aboard an Atlas IIIB vehicle on Friday at 8:47 p.m. EDT. The spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle approximately 30 minutes after launch. The launch was delayed one day due to high winds at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

AsiaSat 4 will be located at 122 degrees East Longitude and will provide TV distribution and telecommunications service for Hong Kong-based Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. throughout Asia, the Middle East, Australasia, and the Commonwealth of Independent States.