Sea Launch LLC initiated a 72-hour countdown in preparation for the launch of the Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8) satellite June 23, the company said.

The IA-8 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat, is designed to provide expanded coverage over the Americas, the Caribbean, Hawaii and Alaska during its 15-year design life. The spacecraft will host voice, video and data transmission and distribution services and will carry 28 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders and 24 Ka-band spot beams.

The launch window opens at 8:58 a.m. EDT, and Sea Launch will carry a live streaming video feed of the entire mission beginning at 8:30 a.m. at

http://www.sea-launch.com/current_index_webcast.html.