Sea Launch

international company

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July 16, 2026

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Sea Launch is an international commercial venture that utilizes a unique approach to space launches. Instead of a fixed land-based site, Sea Launch employs a mobile launch platform, essentially a converted offshore oil rig. This platform is towed to a near-equatorial location in the Pacific Ocean by a command ship. From there, the Ukrainian Zenit launch vehicle and its satellite payload are transferred to the platform for launch. This strategy allows Sea Launch to leverage the advantages of equatorial launches, such as increased Earth rotation velocity, without requiring a permanent installation in an equatorial country. The company is an alliance of U.S., Ukrainian, and Russian aerospace companies, along with a Norwegian offshore oil drilling and shipbuilding company.12

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Boeing Company
History of Boeing Company
…and Anglo-Norwegian partners to form Sea Launch, a commercial launch services company that sent satellites into geostationary orbit from a floating platform at an equatorial site in the Pacific Ocean. Commercial launches began in 1999. In 2000 Boeing acquired the satellite business of Hughes Electronics.
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…and Anglo-Norwegian partners to form Sea Launch, a commercial launch services company that sent satellites into geostationary orbit from a floating platform at an equatorial site in the Pacific Ocean. Commercial launches began in 1999. In 2000 Boeing acquired the satellite business of Hughes Electronics.
Read More

launch vehicle
Launch bases
-Russian-Norwegian-Ukrainian commercial launch firm Sea Launch uses the innovative approach of a mobile launch platform, based on a converted offshore oil-drilling rig, which is towed by a command ship from its home base in Long Beach, California, to a near-equatorial location in the Pacific Ocean. Once the platform reaches…
Read More
-Russian-Norwegian-Ukrainian commercial launch firm Sea Launch uses the innovative approach of a mobile launch platform, based on a converted offshore oil-drilling rig, which is towed by a command ship from its home base in Long Beach, California, to a near-equatorial location in the Pacific Ocean. Once the platform reaches…
Read More