Contact had been established with one of two off-course telecom satellites but it would not be possible to direct it to the designated orbit, its manufacturer said Monday.
Telemetric data showed all Telkom 3’s service systems were functioning normally, Russia’s Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems said.
The link established did not allow enough control of the satellite to put it back on track, the company confirmed.
“However, the satellite is oriented toward the Sun and has an energy supply. The satellite’s solar panels are unfolded,” the company said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said last week Telkom 3 and the other runaway satellite, Express MD2, posed no threat to the International Space Station.
Telkom 3, carried by a Proton-M rocket, was launched Tuesday night from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Hours later, the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos reported the satellite was out of control and had become space junk.
All launches of the Proton-M rocket have been temporarily suspended pending an investigation.
It was Russia’s first launch failure this year. However, in the past two years, the country has suffered five launch failures.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said last week the bungled satellite launches had become “intolerable” and those responsible for the latest failure would be punished.
Due to the latest failures of commercial launches, the Russian economy “has been losing authority and billions of rubles,” Medvedev said.
