PARIS — Russian data-relay and telecommunications satellites equipped with European and Canadian payload hardware were successfully placed into geostationary orbit Nov. 3 following launch aboard a Proton rocket and are healthy in orbit, the satellites’ owners said Nov. 5.
The 1,165-kilogram Loutch-5B data-relay satellite, built by ISS Reshetnev of Russia with the payload transponders furnished by Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy, will operate at 95 degrees east in geostationary orbit for an estimated 15 years.
The launch follows the December 2011 arrival in orbit of Loutch-5A. The Loutch spacecraft, using Ku- and S-band transponders, relay data from low-orbiting Russian spacecraft, rocket upper stages and the international space station to Russian ground controllers.
The 1,640-kilogram Yamal-300K satellite, also built by ISS Reshetnev, carries eight 72-megahertz C-band transponders and 18 72-megahertz Ku-band transponders. MDA Corp. of Canada provided two of the satellite’s antennas, with Reshetnev supplying the other three. The satellite is designed to deliver 5.6 kilowatts of power to the payload.
Yamal-300K, owned by satellite fleet operator Gazprom Space Systems of Moscow, will be placed at 90 degrees east in geostationary orbit. Gazprom said it intends to move the satellite to 163.5 degrees east once Gazprom’s Yamal-401 satellite is launched in 2013. The satellite has a design life of 14 years.
