Satellite News

On 10 August 2013, the Ekspress-AM1 satellite was decommissioned. As of 12 August, a deorbiting programme has been put in effect to transfer the decommissioned satellite to a graveyard orbit, to be followed by final operations to avoid defragmentation and unauthorised activation of onboard equipment.

A summary of the findings on the root cause and corrective action plan following the failure of the 2 July Proton M/Block DM mission with three GLONASS navigational satellites for the Russian Federal Government has been released to International Launch Services (ILS) upon being cleared by Russian security.

Proton manufacturer Khrunichev has summarised preliminary results of the Inter-Agency Commission investigation into the launch failure on 2 July.

It has been officially confirmed that the Proton-M crash on 2 July was caused by incorrectly installed angular velocity sensors. The mistake affected three of six yaw angular velocity sensors on the rocket, said deputy head of Roskosmos, Alexander Lopatin, citing a state commission’s investigation of the crash.

According to the RussianSpaceWeb site, the root cause for the Proton crash on 2 July has been found. Hardly surprising, it was insufficient quality control – this time, sensors had been installed the wrong way. Rocket manufacturer Khrunichev and International Launch Services so far did not confirm this report.

A special group of experts will be set up at the Khrunichev State Space Research Center for inspecting the entire technological chain of manufacturing the Proton-M carrier rocket, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.

Contact with the Ekspress-MD1 broadcasting satellite was lost on 4 July due to faulty orientation of the satellite’s antennas, Russia’s Ministry of Communications and Mass Media said.

The Proton-M failure review oversight commission is considering malfunctions of the launch pad, the rocket control system and the first stage engine as possible causes of the rocket’s crash. The leading theory is an “early lift-off,” but details remain sketchy.