Commercial launch services provider Sea Launch AG is preparing five Zenit-3SL rockets for launch in the next two years, two of them are available for new customers seeking 2014 liftoff dates, the U.S. weekly Space News reports.

"Bern, Switzerland-based Sea Launch's 2014 schedule has assumed greater importance for the global satellite telecommunications market as commercial customers evaluate their options in the wake of the July 2 failure of a Russian Proton rocket and continued uncertainty surrounding the commercial debut of the upgraded Falcon 9 rocket, operated by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif.," it said.

"Proton and Falcon 9 both have large backlogs of commercial customers, some of which have obligations to their own broadcast customers regarding transponder service-availability dates," the weekly reported.

"The company is preparing for the launch of the Eutelsat 3B telecommunications satellite, owned by Paris-based Eutelsat, in the first half of 2014 and said it has two additional rockets whose production schedule is consistent with 2014 campaigns. In addition to the Eutelsat contract, Sea Launch has reserved a slot for Hong Kong-based AsiaSat's AsiaSat 6 or AsiaSat 8 satellite, with the final contract dependent on whether SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket begins operations soon enough to meet AsiaSat's schedule," the report runs.

The edition said, according to Sea Launch, the AsiaSat slot could be assigned to a new customer "pending prior notification to AsiaSat."

Two Zenit-3SL missions from the Sea Launch floating platform have been planned for 2014, the consortium reported.

The Sea Launch international consortium was established in 1995. Upon reorganization in 2010, Energia Overseas Limited (EOL), a lower tier subsidiary of Energia Corporation, acquired 95% of the stock, U.S. Boeing acquired 3% and Norwegian Aker Solutions acquired 2%.

Commercial launches of satellites of up to 4.5 tons have been done with Zenit-3SLB rockets from Baikonur and of satellites larger than 4.5 tons with Zenit-3SL rockets from the seaborne launch platform since 2008 for economic considerations.

Sea Launch has made 35 Zenit-3SL launches from the mobile platform in the Pacific. One of them was partially successful and three missions failed.

The Israeli telecom satellite Amos-4 will be propelled to orbit by a Zenit-3SLB rocket from Baikonur in September under the Land Launch program. That will be the first Zenit mission after the abortive launch of Intelsat-27 with a Zenit-3SL vehicle from the seaborne launch site on February 1.

In all, three Zenit rocket launches are planned from Baikonur in 2013.

Ukraine's Pivdenne Design Bureau and Pivdenmash (both based in Dnipropetrovsk) are the designer and manufacturer of Zenit-3SL rockets and key partners of the international consortium.