According to a senior Russian state official, the Russian government will guide the Express-AM4—a large telecommunications satellite that was launched into an inadequate orbit in August—into a direct, descending orbit starting March 20. The Russian government said that any pieces that fall from space will land in the Pacific Ocean.
According to a senior Russian state official, the Russian government will guide the Express-AM4, a large telecommunications satellite that was launched into an inadequate orbit in August, into a direct, descending orbit starting March 20. The Russian government said that any pieces that fall from space will land in the Pacific Ocean.
!ADVERTISEMENT!
Russia's state-owned telecommunications company, Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC), has said that the 5,800 kilogram satellite has been stuck in an orbit that is too low to the ground because the Breeze M upper stage of the Russian Proton rocket failed to launch the rocket to a higher altitude.
The Chief Financial Officer of the RSCC, Dennis Pivnyuk, said that the company planned to use the telecommunications satellite for 15 years as a part of its expansive development plan. Pivnyuk also said that Russian authorities had considered and discarded multiple alternatives to save the media-influenced spacecraft.
Pivnyuk said during the Satellite 2012 Conference that the satellite will come down between March 20th and March 26th. "While the satellite was not damaged, it has spent seven months in an orbit that exposes it to radiation that has left it in not good shape. There is not much lifetime left. We've reviewed different proposals from different entities, but none was really feasible," said Pivnyuk.
Pivnyuk said that the Astrium Satellites-made Express-AM4 is being replaced by the RSCC and is being paid by the company's $270 million insurance payment. Astrium Satellites has promised that the replacement, the Express-AM4R, will be ready in time to be launched in late 2013.
Isle of Man-based company Polar Broadband Systems is attempting to gain the services of the Express-AM4 with the goal of repositioning the satellite to give scientists studying in Antarctica 14-16 hours of daily broadcast communications. Polar Broadband Systems Co-Founder William Readdy said that the company is still attempting to convince RSCC to reposition the satellite through a series of orbit-raising burns between the end of March and the beginning of June.
For more information, please visit: http://news.discovery.com/space/russian-satellite-controlled-descent-120217.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1
Image Credit: Satellite via Shutterstock
