Period: 1451.16 minutes Inclination: 1.85° Apogee: 36103 km Perigee: 36059 km
Kazakhstan has launched its first communications satellite, entering the ranks of the space-exploring nations. The unmanned KazSat-1 satellite was launched from the Baikonur space centre in the west of the country. Source
KazSat 1, the first Kazakh space satellite, was launched on June 18, 2006 by Proton-K rocket (made by Khrunichev Space Centre). It contains 12 Ku-band transponders (each 72 MHz). It is a communications satellite occupying geosynchronous orbit approximately 36 000 km above the Earth.
The KazSat-1 communications satellite is to be decommissioned. The orbit of the satellite, currently at 36,000-km above the Earth, will be raised into a satellite graveyard orbit.
Kazakhstan's first communications satellite, was launched in June 2006 amid huge fanfare. Symbolically it was a major event, since the large country located in the heart of the Eurasian continent has big aspirations for its future -- ambitions all sparked by Kazakhstan's vast oil reserves. KazSat was intended to serve Kazakhstan's communications needs but space agency officials boasted when it was launched that other Central Asian states, the ones that don't have the funds to even consider launching their own satellite, could arrange to use KazSat. KazSat was exactly the sort of status symbol the country's leadership wanted. But, on December 2, officials at the Kazkosmos space agency sadly told a parliamentary committee that KazSat was "lost."
Officials say Kazakhstan's only satellite has been returned to its normal orbit, more than four months after a computer glitch forced the craft to spiral out of control. Russia's state-controlled Khrunichev State Research and Production Center said Friday it hopes that the craft will resume normal operations after a series of checks.
Broadcasts via Kazakhstan's first telecommunication satellite were interrupted on Sunday. At the end of 2007 the satellite was operating at 70% of its potential.
A Proton-K Stage 4 Rocket Body (2006 022C) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the KazSat 1 Mission, on the 17th June, 2006, re-entered the Earths atmosphere on the 20th June @ 07:37 UTC ± 20 minutes. (Possibly re-entered over the Pacific)
The Proton-K Platform (2006 022B) launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the KazSat 1 Mission, on the 17th June, 2006, re-entered the Earths atmosphere on the 18th June @ 20:36 UTC ± 90 minutes. (Possibly re-entered over Saudi Arabia)
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev watch the launch of Russian-built Proton booster with KazSat 1 satellite aboard at the Russian-rented Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.