Contact Lost with Angosat-1, Manufacturer Says

A Ukranian-built Zenit rocket launches Angosat-1, the South African country Angola's first satellite, into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 26, 2017.
A Ukranian-built Zenit rocket launches Angosat-1, the South African country Angola's first satellite, into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Dec. 26, 2017. (Image credit: Roscosmos)

GLASSBORO, New Jersey — RSC Energia of Moscow said Dec. 27 that the satellite it built for Angola has stopped sending telemetry data after separating from the rocket upper stage that took it to geostationary transfer orbit.

In a Russian-language press release on the company website, Energia said the Angosat-1 telecommunications satellite initially established contact, but then ceased to continue communicating with ground teams.

Angosat-1 launched Dec. 26 on a roughly nine-hour Zenit mission from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite was on the way to its 13 degrees East orbital location using onboard propulsion when it lost telemetry.

Energia said the company is working to restore communications with the satellite.

Russian satellite manufacturers build numerous spacecraft domestically, but have infrequent exports. Israeli satellite operator Spaceom's Amos-5 satellite was built by Russian manufacturer ISS Reshetnev, but ceased communication in 2015 just two years after launch due to a power failure.

Angosat-1 is Angola's first satellite, and supports 16 C-band transponders and six Ku-band transponders. Like most geostationary telecom spacecraft, it has a design life of 15 years.

This story was provided by SpaceNews, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

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Senior Analyst, Quilty Analytics

Caleb Henry is a senior analyst for Quilty Analytics and a former staff writer for the space industry publication SpaceNews. From 2016 to 2020, Caleb covered the global satellite industry for SpaceNews, chronicling everything from launches, spacecraft manufacturing and ground infrastructure. Caleb's work has also appeared in NewSpace Global and Access Intelligence. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in astronomy from Grove City College.