Thursday, December 27, 2012

Failure of Yamal-402’s Turbopump Bearing Results in Early Separation

Russia’s Roscosmos space agency reported that the initial failure of telecommunications satellite Yamal-402 to reach its predestined orbit was most likely brought about by the failure of a pump’s bearing.

Launched into space last December 8 from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan, Yamal-402 detached from its launch rocket four minutes early, causing it to fail from reaching the destined orbit. Thales Alenia Space, the company that constructed the satellite for Russia’s Gazprom Space Systems, later removed the satellite from its intended orbit with the help of its onboard engines.

Roscosmos space agency experts say that the damaged bearing inside the turbopump of the Briz-M launch rocket’s upper stage caused the early separation. Now, the service life of Yamal-402 telecommunications satellite will be reduced from 15 years to 11 years because of the emergency use of its fuel reserves.

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