President of Russia’s Energia space corporation Yuri Semyonov and General Director of Gazkom Nikolai Sevastyanov on August 18 signed a joint memorandum on the start of the production of the Yamal-200 communication satellites, a newer version of the Yamal-100 satellites.
Energia signed a contract on July 24 to produce four of the new satellites for Gazkom.
The Yamal-100 satellite was also produced under a contract for Gazkom (operating in the interest of natural gas giant Gaz-prom) and was put into orbit in September 1999.
A Proton rocket carrier will launch the first two Yamal-200 satellites into orbit at 90 degrees and 49 degrees Eastern longitude in the summer of 2002.
The satellite to orbit at 90 degrees Eastern longitude will be equipped with a combined payload of C and Ku bands and will serve Russia and neighboring countries.
The satellite to orbit at 49 degrees Eastern longitude will operate on the C bank and will serve a larger area that will include most of Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East and South and Southeast Asia.
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