| Title | Newly-Launched Russian Telecom Satellite Relying on Backup Thrusters | |
| Date | Thursday June 13 2019, @08:43AM | |
| Author | Fnord666 | |
| Topic | ||
| from the always-have-a-backup dept. | ||
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
Newly-launched Russian telecom satellite relying on backup thrusters – Spaceflight Now
A French-built communications satellite for Russia's Gazprom Space Systems launched May 30 is maneuvering toward its final operating location in geostationary orbit using a set of backup thrusters after the spacecraft encountered a problem with its main engine.
Ground controllers planned a series of burns using the Yamal 601 satellite's main engine to send the craft into geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above the equator, where its speed will match the rate of Earth's rotation, giving Yamal 601 a constant coverage zone over Russia, the Middle East and parts of Southeast Asia.
But a main engine burn June 1 was cut short when the Yamal 601 satellite's pointing, or attitude, drifted away from expected parameters, according to Gazprom Space Systems, a subsidiary of the Russian oil giant. The spacecraft went into safe mode, but all other systems on Yamal 601 remained healthy, officials said.
Gazprom Space Systems said the problem was presumably caused by a deviation in the thrust vector from Yamal 601's primary orbit-raising engine, which was built in Germany by ArianeGroup. Thales Alenia Space of France, the prime contractor for the Yamal 601 spacecraft, determined the satellite's lower-thrust rocket engines could be used for orbit-raising.
| Links |
printed from SoylentNews, Newly-Launched Russian Telecom Satellite Relying on Backup Thrusters on 2024-04-18 22:38:39