![Preparing Kazakhstan's KazSat-3 communications satellite in Baikonur cosmodrome. ©RIA News](/userdata/news_en/2014/news_253850/thumb_b/photo_40436.jpg)
KazSat-3 communication satellite assisted by a Proton-M carrier rocket has reached the designated orbital position, Tengrinews reports referring to the press-office of Kazkosmos, the National Space Agency of Kazakhstan.
KazSat-3 communication satellite assisted by a Proton-M carrier rocket has reached the designated orbital position, Tengrinews reports referring to the press-office of Kazkosmos, the National Space Agency of Kazakhstan.
KazSat-3 satellite reached the working point at 58,5°E in a geostationary orbit.
While in transfer to the designated orbital position, KazSat-3 satellite went through a part of the flight tests of the support system module to confirm its technical parameters.
The ground-based control center in northern Kazakhstan's town of Akkol and Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company, Russia’s leading space enterprise, are now jointly preparing for flight tests of the satellite's payload. The flight tests are expected to be completed in the middle of September 2014.
On April 28, 2014 an upgraded version of Russian launch vehicle Proton-M took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan carrying the third Kazakh telecommunications satellite KazSat-3 and a Russian relay satellite Luch-5V.
The new Kazakh satellite will work in tandem with KazSat-2 launched in 2011. The satellites are designed so as to back up one another in case of failures. There was also KazSat-1 satellite, but after operating for some time it stopped responding to the ground control and was subsequently lost altogether.
By launching these two communication satellites, Kazakhstan becomes more independent from foreign communications and broadcasting systems. Use of its own satellites enables Kazakhstan to save $30 million annually. In addition, the launch of KazSat-3 will consolidate Kazakhstan’s orbital position with the International Telecommunication Union.
The Kazakhstani national satellite system KazSat was created to meet the needs of Kazakh telecom operators now and in the near future. The system also improves information security of the country, provides public authorities with independent communication channels and prevents outflow of funds spent to rent foreign satellites.
KazSat-3 is a commercial geostationary telecommunication satellite made by Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company in Russia with communications payload supplied by Thales Alenia Space, a French-Italian aerospace company.
The total cost of KazSat-3 project is $148 million.
Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina