Yamal 101


Yamal 101 was a geostationary communications satellite operated by Gazkom and built by RSC Energia. It was, along with Yamal 102 the first communications satellite of the Yamal program and the first iteration of the USP Bus. It was a satellite with 2200W of power on an unpressurized bus. It had eight SPT-70 electric thrusters by OKB Fakel for station keeping. Its payload was 12 C band equivalent transponders supplied by Space Systems Loral.

History

It was launched along Yamal 102 September 6, 1999 at 16:36 UTC from Baikonur Site 81/23 by a Proton-K/Blok-DM-2M directly to GEO. But a failure in the electrical system at solar panel deployment meant that it was lost right after the successful launch.

Rename of Yamal 102

After Yamal 101 failure, Gazkom registered Yamal 102 as Yamal 101. This has caused significant confusion but the records are clear that the satellite that failed was, in fact, the original Yamal 101.