Yamal 402

Spacecraft nº:

Russian spacecraft nº:

Launch data: Designation  39022 / 12070A Launch date  08 Dec 2012 - 13:13 UT Launch site  Baikonur, LC-39/200 Launch vehicle  Proton-M/Briz-M Mission  Com.: Communication Geostationary orbit: Perigee / Apogee  35784 x 35789 km Eccentricity  5,93E-05 Inclination  0.06 deg Period  1436.11 min

Description:

• In February 2009 Gazprom Space Systems ordered two Yamal-400 communication satellites from Thales Alenia Space. The satellites named Yamal 401 and Yamal 402 will be based on the Spacebus-4000C3 bus.
• Originally planned to be launched on Ariane-5ECA vehicles, the satellites have now been transferred to Proton-M Briz-M rockets.
• Yamal-400 satellites will have guaranteed lifetime of 15 years. Yamal-402 will be placed at 55° East orbital slot and will be equipped with 46 Ku-band transponders providing for the coverage zone over the most part of the territory of Russia, CIS, Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Mission details:

• Nov 28, 2012: In accordance with the existing schedule, the Yamal 402 spacecraft mated to a Breeze M upper stage has been encapsulated at Integration-and-Test Facility 92A-50 earlier today. The encapsulating payload fairing is designed to protect the spacecraft and the upper stage from environmental effects.
  
  
  
• The satellite was launched on 8 Dec 2012, but was dropped off in a lower than planned orbit due to an early shut down of the Briz-M upper stage.
• YAMAL 402 was supposed to maneuver itself into a circular geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles (35,888 km) up and lowering inclination where it can match Earth's rotation and appear parked over the equator at 55 degrees East longitude to begin a 15-year service life. However the upper stage of the heavy-lift Proton rocket failed to perform the full duration of its final boost-burn, leaving YAMAL 402 in a lower-than-planned orbit at the end of a 9-hour flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
• The satellite has enough fuel to reach its intended orbit, but will have a shorter than planned orbital stationkeeping lifetime. (reduced by 4 years).
• On Dec 17, 2012 the Yamal-402 satellite was in a 35693 x 35764 km x 0.05 deg orbit drifting at 1 deg per day over the Indian Ocean at 53E, completing the recovery effort for the satellite. It had reached a lower than planned initial orbit after the failure of its Briz-M upper stage.

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