Sea Launch LLC placed the Intelsat Americas-8 (IA-8) into its transfer orbit June 23.

The satellite, onboard a Zenit-3SL rocket, was launched from Sea Launch’s equatorial platform in the Pacific Ocean at 10:03 a.m. EDT. A ground station in Fucino, Italy, acquired the spacecraft’s first signal less than an hour after liftoff, as planned.

The IA-8 satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral for Intelsat Ltd., carries 28 C-band and 36 Ku-band transponders and 24 Ka-band spot beams. It 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.

“IA-8 represents a very important launch for Intelsat and North American customers as it offers high-powered Ku-band coverage throughout all 50 states, relieving some of the current capacity constraints facing all operators serving the U.S. market,” Intelsat CEO David McGlade said in a statement.