''Sea Launch Commander'' is the command ship for

Sea Launch Sea Launch was a multinational—Norway, Russia, Ukraine, United States—spacecraft launch company founded in 1995 that provided orbital launch services from 1999–2014. The company used a mobile maritime launch platform for equatorial lau ...

. , she was registered in

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Her home port is

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

History

''Sea Launch Commander'' was commissioned by

, after Sea Launch was established in 1995 as a consortium of four companies from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, managed by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

with participation from the other shareholders. She was built by Kvaerner Govan Ltd at

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

shipyard in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and launched in 1997. In the fall of 1997, the ship sailed for Russia, where special equipment for handling rocket components and for commanding and controlling launches was installed and tested. She arrived in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, on July 13, 1998, after a voyage through the Panama Canal. The first rocket launch controlled by ''Sea Launch Commander'' was in March 1999. The ship originally carried colors representing the majority ownership of Sea Launch by a Ukrainian company. Following a 2009

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

of the company, Energia—which already owned 25% of Sea Launch—acquired a controlling interest of 85% in the Sea Launch company and therefore in ''Sea Launch Commander''. As a result, the company planned to begin land-based launches from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

in early 2011, while sea-based launches were to resume in September 2011. The ship currently carries colors representing the majority ownership of Sea Launch by a Russian company. While docked in Long Beach in 2013, ''Sea Launch Commander'' served as a filming location for the Marvel film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', portraying the fictional S.H.I.E.L.D. vessel ''Lemurian Star''.

Technical description

The Assembly and Command Ship—or ACS, and subsequently named ''Sea Launch Commander''—was an all-new, purpose-built vessel that serves as a floating rocket assembly factory while in port, provides crew and customer accommodations and also houses mission control facilities for launches at sea. The ACS is approximately long, wide, displaces more than and has a cruising range of . The ACS provides accommodations for up to 240 crew members, customers and VIPs—including medical facilities, a dining room, recreation and entertainment facilities.

References

External links

*{{cite web , url= http://www.sea-launch.com/launch/11141 , title= Sea Launch Commander , publisher=

, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150331010135/http://www.sea-launch.com/launch/11141 , archive-date= 12 October 2014 1997 ships Ships of the United States Ships built in Govan Auxiliary ships