MOSCOW (EFE) .- The disintegration in the atmosphere today satellite communications Mexican Centenario is a notch in the recent series of failures of the Russian space program, once one of the greatest prides of this country.
Less than ten minutes after being launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Mexsat-1 deviated from the planned orbit and lost contact with Earth, which disintegrated after reaching the dense layers of the atmosphere.
“The accident occurred at an altitude of 161 kilometers. The third stage of the engine block and the spacecraft have disintegrated almost completely in the atmosphere, “the Russian space agency, Roscomos, in a statement.
The Mexsat-1 satellite, which was to provide services telecommunications for Mexico and much of Latin America, could not be separated from the third stage of the carrier rocket Proton-M, of what has already been reported by the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“At the moment, no we have recorded the fall of the fragments that have not been burned, “he said Roscomos.
However, the authorities send emergency helicopters to the region of Lake Baikal, where residents thought they heard a loud explosion.
The Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev ordered to establish a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances of the failure and asked also settle liabilities with names, according to his spokesman.
The launch, which was have put the device in geostationary orbit at 113 degrees west longitude, took place at 00.47 on Saturday (local time from central Mexico, 05.47 GMT) and was broadcast live.
Mexican representatives had been displaced Baikonur especially to assist the operation, which aimed to modernize the communications infrastructure and put the country at the forefront of satellite technology.
The Mexican government was swift to ensure that the project Centenary which takes its name from the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910, is secured to one hundred percent, so the investment will recover.
The launch of the Centenary planned initially for April 29, but was postponed at the request of Boeing Satellite Systems International.
The Mexican satellite had a lifespan of 15 years, an antenna 26 meters in diameter and should be fully operational approximately 10 months after being released.
Fortunately, the damaged device is identical in size and technical capabilities to Morelos III, since both are designed to provide mobile communications services via satellite to people, cars, ships and planes .
The Morelos III, which provides key information to ensure national security, will be released in October from Cape Canaveral (USA).
This is the second failure in the space program Russian in the last 24 hours, after the space freighter Progress was unable this morning to correct the orbit of the International Space Station.
The Progress M26-M, which is coupled to the orbital outpost, He could not turn their engines for unknown reasons, although the station crew has not been affected by it.
In addition, last April 28, another failure caused the destruction of another cargo ship Progress, in his second accident in 35 years, carrying food and oxygen to the occupants of the orbital platform.
For this reason, Roscosmos was forced to postpone for two months to send the next manned Soyuz, the only link for astronauts between Earth and the station.
As in the case of Mexican satellite, the fault was in the third stage of the carrier rocket, which caused the Progress will be at wrong orbit.
The chairman of the Duma Industry or Chamber of Deputies, Sergey Sobko, insisted that the problem is the lack of cadres between 30 and 50, because, due to financial problems, many emigrated abroad after the fall of the USSR.
In this way, the staff of the Russian aerospace industry would comprise experts these days veterans of the Soviet school and inexperienced specialists trained in Russia in so far this century.
“It seems that the Russian cosmonautics disintegrates at the speed of light. In the space sector not only does not develop anything new (…), but Soviet technology that had more than proven validity stops working, “said Yuri Karash, an expert with the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, told Interfax.
The Government had launched a purge and introduced three years ago large-scale reform of the sector to prevent further failures, representing a cost of billions of dollars to a Russian economy entered into recession this year. – Ignacio Ortega
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