Moscow: Contact has been made with an Indonesian telecommunications satellite which went missing following a failed launch last week, a Russian rocket firm said Monday. The Telkom 3 and another satellite, Russia`s Express MD2, failed to reach their target orbit due to a failure of the Russian Proton-M rocket`s upper stage.
"Contact with the satellite has been established and is being sustained," the Reshetnev rocket company, which built the craft, said in a press release.
"The satellite is oriented toward the sun. A positive energy balance is being maintained onboard. The craft`s solar panels have been opened."
The satellite could be used for "additional tests" of the firm`s "new space platform," Reshetnev director Nikolai Testoyedov told reporters. The firm "will take care of the controlled maneuvering of the satellite off orbit" if Indonesia`s PT Telkom, which owes the craft, gives permission for the tests.
The platform, Express-1000H, is being used for the development of the Amos-5 satellite, Testoyedov said.
According to the Jakarta Post, PT Telkom spent some $200 million to purchase and launch the Telkom-3.
The failed launch has prompted the Russian space agency Roscosmos to suspend all Proton-M launches until the inquiry group states its findings.
IANS