Moscow :Russian specialists on Friday said they have restored communication
with Angosat-1, the first national satellite it launched for Angola, days
after they lost contact with it.
“Specialists of Energia rocket and space corporation have received
telemetry information from Angosat,” Energia said in a statement.
“All parameters of the spacecraft systems are normal.” Energia is the maker
of the satellite which Russia launched from its Baikonur cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan on Tuesday evening.
It stopped receiving telemetry shortly afterwards. The incident was a new
embarrassment for the country’s once proud space industry after Russia in
November lost contact with a weather satellite after it was launched from a
new cosmodrome in the country’s far east.
The Angosat project was agreed by Russia and Angola in 2009 and includes
the satellite, its launch, and on-ground infrastructure in a suburb of the
capital Luanda.
The approximately $280-million project has been financed with a credit from
Russia’s state banks. The satellite is designed for a 15-year mission to
boost satellite communications, Internet access, radio and TV service.