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Russian Official: Arabsat 4A Can Reach Orbit but with Shortened Life |
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MOSCOW, March 8, 2006/Satnews Daily/ — The Arabsat 4A satellite now stranded in useless orbit after the Russian-made rocket Proton Breeze M malfunctioned on its launch on March 1 can still be delivered to an operational orbit, Russia's space agency chief said on Tuesday.
“Our experts think it is possible to bring the Arab satellite to an operational orbit, where it can function for up to two years,” Anatoly Perminov, head of the Federal Space Agency was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as telling a press conference.
The Proton rocket with EADS Astrium-built Arabsat satellite lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:10 a.m. on March local time (3:10 p.m. Tuesday EST, 20:10 Tuesday GMT) but the Breeze M upper stage shut down early during its planned burn sequence. As a contingency, the satellite was separated too early and did not reach its designated orbit.
“The launch cannot be described as a total failure as the rocket functioned in a regular way,” Perminov said.
He added the satellite can reach an operational orbit on its own engine, and it can also be used on other orbits for third countries, Itar-Tass reported.
The Arabsat 4A satellite is a Eurostar E2000+ model equipped with a payload featuring 24 transponders in C-band and 20 transponders in Ku-band. Arabsat 4A was intended to offer a wide range of satellite communications services with the highest power level and the widest coverage over the Arab countries.
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