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AngoSat satellite stays in designated orbit — source

Experts from Russia’s Energia Space Corporation are working to make Angola’s AngoSat satellite operate normally again

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The AngoSat satellite launched from the Baikonur spaceport on December 26 stays in the designated orbit, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Thursday.

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Russian experts working to restore contact with AngoSat satellite

"The Fregat booster operated in the normal regime [when delivering the AngoSat satellite into the designated orbit] and there are all confirmations that the space vehicle stays in the target orbit," the source said.

TASS does not yet have an official confirmation of this information.

According to data of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the second stage of the Zenit carrier rocket and the detachable fuel tank of the Fregat booster are staying in orbit. The NORAD has not registered any other objects so far.

Experts from Russia’s Energia Space Corporation are working to make Angola’s AngoSat satellite operate normally again, the corporation said in a statement published on its website.

According to sources in the Russian rocket and space industry, contact with the satellite was lost when its solar batteries began to unfold.

The Zenit-2SB carrier rocket with the Fregat booster and Angola’s AngoSat satellite blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan at 22:00 Moscow time (19:00 GMT) on December 26. The Fregat booster and AngoSat separated from the third stage of the carrier rocket eight minutes after the launch.

The satellite separated from the booster at 06:54 Moscow time (03:54 GMT) on December 27. After that, the satellite started to move as planned and provide telemetry data, but when its solar batteries began to unfold, telemetry data stopped coming.

Russia’s Energia Space Corporation created the AngoSat satellite for Angola’s Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technologies.

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