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Angolan satellite designed in Russia ready for last stage of trials

The contract for the Angosat satellite was signed in 2009

© Evgeniy Kurskov/TASS

MOSCOW, August 10. /TASS/. The Angosat satellite planned for its launch from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan aboard a Zenit carrier rocket is ready for the last stage of trials, Russia’s Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation said in a statement posted on its website on Thursday.

"Upon the completion of thermal vacuum trials, the space vehicle has been delivered to the Energiya Corporation to prepare for control [acceptance/delivery] trials," the statement says.

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The satellite’s thermal vacuum trials were held at the Peresvet Rocket and Space Industry R&D Center. The trials tested all the operation modes of onboard re-transmitters and onboard service systems, including the regimes of warding off possible emergency situations.

"The trials were held under the control of representatives of the Angolan side," the statement said.

The contract for the Angosat satellite was signed in 2009 and has been implemented since 2012. It stipulates developing a satellite with a re-transmitter, its launch into a geostationary orbit and the creation of ground-based communications and TV broadcasting infrastructure. The Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation is the chief contractor on Russia’s behalf.

The satellite’s launch is planned for November 2017. It was initially scheduled for 2016. There were plans to use an Angara carrier rocket for the launch of the Angolan satellite as the production of Zenit launchers was terminated in 2014. However, it was then decided to return to the use of a Zenit rocket stored at the Baikonur spaceport for the launch of the Skektr-RG telescope.

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