Indonesia's Satellite is Missing

Two telecommunications satellites carried by the Proton-M rocket was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday, is now missing due to failure at the top of the Briz-M. This was reported by nasaspaceflight.com site.

Telecommunications satellite was lost Telkom-3 and Express-MD2. The launch occurred on Monday (6/8) 19:31 GMT.

Proton launcher that launches satellites measuring the diameter of 4.1 meters on the second and third, while the first inner diameter is 7.4 meters. Total height of three parts of the Proton launcher is 42.3 meters.

Proton-M vehicle actually slid with no problems, but according to the statement of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, when there should have been confirmation of the separation plane, it turns out that the two satellites in orbit failed to transfer because of problems in combustion Briz-M.

RIA Novosti Russian media reports later confirmed that the satellite was declared missing, further adds to the long list of failures Briz-M, including the Express-AM4 satellite loss last year. Even so, the Briz-M had undergone 12 missions since the failure of the Express-AM4.

The launch last Monday was postponed several times since May, the problem is a failure on the top of the Briz-M.

Telkom-3 satellite was built by ISS-Reshetnev and communication equipment by Thales Aleniaspace. These satellites are used to serve the increasing needs of business satellite transponder in Indonesia, especially for the Telkom Group which has invested $ 200 million to this project.

"Telkom-3 satellite was designed not only for commercial purposes or repair of satellite capacity to support quality ICT infrastructure but also support the needs of government such as defense and security (military) and also to the operational state-owned enterprises," said Rinaldi Firmansyah, President of Telkom.

This is the first time for Indonesia to buy a satellite of Russia, formerly Telkom-2 satellite launched by Ariane 5 in 2005.

Earlier, on July 18, 2012, Telkom-3 satellite launch was forced to retreat again because there is damage to the rocket peluncurnya. At that time, Telkom said it was still awaiting the results of the investigation until the all clear at once to make sure when the satellite may be launched. Telkom finance director Honesti Basyir : satellite launch time delays are common in the satellite industry.