The operation is the first of three scheduled during 2004 for Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space and Communications, to deploy satellites for the DirecTV and Telstar communications systems.

The Telstar 14/Estrela do Sul 1 satellite, a 10,350-pound spacecraft, will be launched by a Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket sometime during a two-hour launch window beginning at 8:02 p.m. on Jan. 9.

The satellite will provide communications service for much of Brazil, as well as North and South America, and the North Atlantic Ocean, where the Boeing Co.'s Connexion system will use the satellite to provide Internet service aboard some commercial planes.

Sea Launch is headquartered in Long Beach and is an international partnership, headed by Boeing, that provides commercial launch services using a converted oil rig platform.

On the Net www.sea-launch.com.