Russia Loses Contact with Military Satellite
February 2, 2011Details courtesy of CANSPACE listserv.
Russia said it lost contact Tuesday with a military satellite launched that morning. The incident follows on the heels of Russia's failed launch of three GLONASS-M satellites in December.
The satellite was launched on board a Rokot booster rocket from the northern Plesetsk launchpad. Not long after, the military failed to establish radio communications. The problem appears to lie with the Briz-KM upper stage. The Geo-IK-2 geodetic satellite remains in its transfer orbit because the upper stage failed to restart for its second circularizing burn. The payload and rocket are being tracked in 355 x 933 km and 319 x 1053 km x 99.5 degree orbits.
The satellite, which is based on the GLONASS-M bus, carries laser reflectors, GPS/GLONASS receiving equipment, and an altimeter. Communications have been established with the satellite but it's not clear how useful it will be in its current orbit.
The GEO-IK-2 Reshetnev satellite was designed for geodetic studies.
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