31.07.2020 / 7.00 MESZ
The launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket with Russia’s Express-80 and Express-103 telecoms satellites has been delayed for twenty-four hours to hold additional checks of assemblies and equipment, the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Due to the need to hold additional checks of assemblies and equipment, the state commission has made a decision to postpone the launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M booster and the Russian Express-103 and Express-80 telecoms satellites to a back-up date. Now, the launch is planned for 00:25 a.m. Moscow time on July 31, 2020," the statement reads.
The launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan was earlier scheduled for 00:27 a.m. Moscow time on July 30. The Briz-M booster was intended to complete the delivery of the telecoms satellites into the target geo-stationary transfer orbit at 6:43 p.m. Moscow time on July 30.
The Express-80 and Express-103 telecoms satellites are expected to move eventually to their geo-stationary orbits, igniting their own engines. According to the Roscosmos data, the term for completing the satellite’s delivery into the designated orbit is no more than 152 days for the Express-80 and no more than 160 days for the Express-103.
The Express-80 and Express-103 satellites have been built on order from the Russian Satellite Communications Company and are based on the standardized Express-1000 medium-class platform developed by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company.
The satellites are designed to provide fixed and mobile communications, digital television and radio broadcasting services and high-speed access to the Internet and also to transmit data on the territory of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the C-, Ku- and L-bands. The payload will include 38 (for the Express-80) and 37 (for the Express-103) basic transponders. The satellites will have an active service life of 15 years.
Quelle: TASS
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Update: 19.00 MESZ
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Proton-M carrier rocket with Express telecom satellites launched from Baikonur
A Proton-M carrier rocket with a Briz-M booster, carrying Russia’s Express-80 and Express-103 telecom satellites, has been launched from Site No. 200 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The launch was broadcast on the Roscosmos State Space Agency’s website.
The Express-80 and Express-103 satellites, built for the Russian Satellite Communications Company, are based on the standardized Express-1000 medium-class platform developed by the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems Company.
The satellites are designed to provide fixed and mobile communications, digital television and radio broadcasting services and high-speed Internet access, as well as to transmit on the territory of Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the C-, Ku- and L-bands. The payload will include 38 (for the Express-80) and 37 (for the Express-103) basic transponders. The satellites will have an active service life of 15 years. The Russian Satellite Communications Company said earlier that the satellites were expected to be put into operation in January or February 2021.
Quelle: TASS