SES Global announced that it has contracted with Sea Launch Co. for a mission on its Land Launch system to send the AMC-21 spacecraft into orbit in 2008.

Land Launch will use a Zenit-3SLB vehicle to launch the AMC-21 satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from the Land Launch site at Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. Both the satellite and the launch vehicle will be integrated and launched from the Zenit processing and launch facilities at the Baikonur complex.

Weighing about 2,500 kilograms, AMC-21 is being manufactured by Alcatel Alenia Space. The satellite will be built on Orbital Sciences Corp‘s Star-2 platform and will feature 24 Ku-band transponders. Operating from an orbital location of 125 degrees West, AMC-21 will provide coverage of the United States and the Caribbean and will be operated and marketed by SES Americom.