Mission success! ILS says the fifth burn of the Breeze M upper stage was completed as planned, and the EchoStar 16 satellite separated on time at 0343 GMT (10:43 p.m. EST).

"The ILS Proton vehicle which consists of three stages, used a standard ascent profile to place the orbital unit (Breeze M upper stage and the EchoStar XVI satellite) into a sub-orbital trajectory," ILS said in a statement. "From this point in the mission, the Breeze M utilized a standard five-burn mission to perform the planned mission maneuvers to advance the orbital unit first to a circular parking orbit, then to an intermediate orbit. After a 9 hour and 12 minute mission, the Breeze M successfully released the EchoStar 16 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit."

International Launch Services confirms the completion of the Breeze M's third burn, a successful jettison of the stage's auxiliary propellant tank, and a good fourth burn.

The Breeze M and Intelsat 23 should now be in a transfer orbit with a low point of 265 miles, a high point of 22,253 miles, and an inclination of 49.1 degrees.

The upper stage will coast for 5 hours before igniting a fifth and final time to inject Intelsat 23 into a final geostationary transfer orbit.

Separation of the Intelsat 23 satellite is scheduled for 0343 GMT (10:43 p.m. EDT).

The second burn of the Breeze M upper stage has been accomplished as planned. This firing was supposed to place the rocket in an initial transfer orbit with a low point of 167 miles, a high point of 1,864 miles, and an inclination of 50.3 degrees.

The next event is the Breeze M's third burn, which is programmed to last 9 minutes, 38 seconds, beginning at 2159 GMT (4:59 p.m. EST). After the burn, the Breeze M will jettison an auxiliary propellant tank and fire again for a fourth time.

T+plus 22 minutes. The first burn of the Breeze M upper stage has ended successfully, placing the rocket and the payload in a parking orbit. Preflight plans called for the Breeze M to now be in a 110-mile-high orbit.

The next ignition of the Breeze M is scheduled for approximately 1938 GMT (2:38 p.m. EST) for a burn lasting 17 minutes, 42 seconds.

T+plus 15 minutes. International Launch Services confirms the Breeze M upper stage is firing as planned.

T+plus 11 minutes. Officials confirm successful shutdown of the Proton's third stage and separation of the Breeze M upper stage, which should soon ignite for the first of five burns.

This first burn should last more than 7 minutes, placing the Breeze M and EchoStar 16 in a circular parking orbit 110 miles high with an inclination of 51.5 degrees.

T+plus 7 minutes. Proton's second stage has separated, and the third stage RD-0213 engine has begun its burn. The rocket's payload fairing has also been released now that the launcher is in the upper atmosphere.

T+plus 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The Proton's first stage has shut down and jettisoned, and the second stage engines are firing with a half-million pounds of thrust.

T+plus 70 seconds. The Proton rocket has passed the speed of sound and the phase of maximum aerodynamic pressure.

Liftoff of the Proton rocket with EchoStar 16, a fresh satellite for Dish Network's direct-to-home broadcasting service over the United States.

T-minus 60 seconds.

T-minus 2 minutes. The countdown is being run by a master computer sequencer.

T-minus 5 minutes. The exact launch time is 1831:00 GMT (1:31:00 p.m. EST). It will be 12:31 a.m. local time at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

T-minus 10 minutes. The Proton launcher on the pad weighs about 1.5 million pounds, and it will be powered into the sky by six first stage RD-276 engines producing more than 2 million pounds of thrust.

The EchoStar 16 satellite weighs 14,660 pounds at liftoff. EchoStar 16 was transitioned to internal power a few minutes ago.

T-minus 12 minutes. The current temperature at the Baikonur Cosmodrome is about 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

With 15 minutes left in the countdown, everything remains on schedule for launch at 1831 GMT (1:31 p.m. EST). It will take more than 9 hours to deploy EchoStar 16 in the proper orbit.

The Proton rocket is fully fueled for launch at 0837 GMT (4:37 a.m. EDT) with the EchoStar 16 satellite.

Today's mission will be the:

• 382nd Proton rocket launch since 1965
• 76th International Launch Services Proton
• 61st Proton M using a Breeze M upper stage since 2001
• 10th Proton of 2012
• 24th Space Sytems/Loral satellite on ILS Proton
• 5th EchoStar satellite on ILS Proton

The launch pad gantry is now moving away from the Proton rocket at Baikonur, revealing the silver booster as the countdown approaches the final hour until liftoff.

A Proton rocket is set to lift off from Kazakhstan on Tuesday with a satellite to serve DISH Network television subscribers across the United States.

The 191-foot-tall rocket will launch at 1831 GMT (1:31 p.m. EST) Tuesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The three-stage Proton and a Breeze M upper stage will place the EchoStar 16 satellite in a geostationary transfer orbit with a low point of 1,512 miles, a high point of 22,236 miles and an inclination of 29.5 degrees.

After a nearly 10-minute flight under the power of the Proton core booster, the Breeze M upper stage will fire five times before deploying EchoStar 16 at 0343 GMT Wednesday (10:43 p.m. EDT Tuesday).

The 14,660-pound EchoStar 16 satellite was built by Space Systems/Loral. The craft will enter service in geostationary orbit at 61.5 degrees west longitude, where it will join two other EchoStar satellites covering the United States for Dish Network.

Check out video and photos of the Proton rocket rolling to the launch pad.