hummer
06-19-2008, 01:14 PM
Almaty, June 17: Kazakhstan`s sole communications satellite, used by many of the country`s television broadcasters, is out of control due to a computer glitch and is likely to be lost altogether, space officials said on Monday.
Kazakhstan launched the Russian-build KazSat-1 satellite in June 2006, the first of four which it aimed to have in orbit by 2020 and which it said would establish the Central Asian country as a global space power.
"There is a high probability that the satellite will be lost," Kazakhstan`s National Space Agency said in a statement.
Agency head Talgat Musabayev said the satellite, which experts said cost $60 million to $100 million at the time of launch, has been out of touch since June 8 and could no longer be controlled from a space command centre in neighboring Russia.
"It`s still alive but it`s not breathing well," Musabayev, himself a former cosmonaut, told reporters. "It is not responding to commands."
Musabayev said a breakdown in KazSat`s onboard digital computing system was to blame for its sudden failure, which forced some of Kazakhstan`s major broadcasters, such as the state-run channel Khabar TV, to switch to more costly back-up satellites.
A number of smaller television companies have had to close altogether, he said.
Home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a space centre built in Soviet times and now leased to Russia for $115 million a year, Kazakhstan has long harbored dreams of developing its own independent space program.
But progress has been slow, Musabayev said, due to a lack of a coordinated strategy on space development since Kazakhstan, Central Asia`s biggest economy and oil producer, gained independence from Moscow in 1991.
"There has been no focused approach," he said.
Musabayev did not directly blame Russia for KazSat`s breakdown, but said Kazakhstan may need to acquire space equipment from Western suppliers in the future, reflecting a wider view in the country that it should pursue a more independent diplomacy.
Baikonur was the venue for the world`s first satellite launch in 1957 of Sputnik 1, and then for the flight in 1961 that made Yuri Gagarin the first man in space.
Kazakhstan launched the Russian-build KazSat-1 satellite in June 2006, the first of four which it aimed to have in orbit by 2020 and which it said would establish the Central Asian country as a global space power.
"There is a high probability that the satellite will be lost," Kazakhstan`s National Space Agency said in a statement.
Agency head Talgat Musabayev said the satellite, which experts said cost $60 million to $100 million at the time of launch, has been out of touch since June 8 and could no longer be controlled from a space command centre in neighboring Russia.
"It`s still alive but it`s not breathing well," Musabayev, himself a former cosmonaut, told reporters. "It is not responding to commands."
Musabayev said a breakdown in KazSat`s onboard digital computing system was to blame for its sudden failure, which forced some of Kazakhstan`s major broadcasters, such as the state-run channel Khabar TV, to switch to more costly back-up satellites.
A number of smaller television companies have had to close altogether, he said.
Home to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a space centre built in Soviet times and now leased to Russia for $115 million a year, Kazakhstan has long harbored dreams of developing its own independent space program.
But progress has been slow, Musabayev said, due to a lack of a coordinated strategy on space development since Kazakhstan, Central Asia`s biggest economy and oil producer, gained independence from Moscow in 1991.
"There has been no focused approach," he said.
Musabayev did not directly blame Russia for KazSat`s breakdown, but said Kazakhstan may need to acquire space equipment from Western suppliers in the future, reflecting a wider view in the country that it should pursue a more independent diplomacy.
Baikonur was the venue for the world`s first satellite launch in 1957 of Sputnik 1, and then for the flight in 1961 that made Yuri Gagarin the first man in space.