Ekspress MD2
| Mission type | Communication |
|---|---|
| Operator | Russian Satellite Communications Company |
| COSPAR ID | 2012-044B |
| SATCAT no. | 38745 |
| Mission duration | Launch failure |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | Khrunichev Thales Alenia |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 6 August 2012, 19:31:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Proton-M/Briz-M |
| Launch site | Baikonur 81/24 |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime |
Medium Earth Geostationary planned |
| Longitude | 145° East planned |
| Perigee | 272 kilometres (169 mi) |
| Apogee | 4,770 kilometres (2,960 mi) |
| Inclination | 49.90 degrees |
| Period | 139.09 minutes |
| Epoch | 19 December 2013, 02:16:22 UTC |
Ekspress MD2 is a Russian communications satellite which was lost due to a launch failure on 6 August 2012. Equipped with eight C band transponders and one L band transponder, it was intended to be located in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 145° east. It was the second Ekspress MD satellite to be launched, following Ekspress MD1 in 2009.
Ekspress MD2 was launched atop a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage on 6 August 2012 at 19:31 UTC. The Indonesian Telkom-3 satellite was also carried aboard the rocket. Launch occurred from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first three stages of the Proton launched worked as expected and the satellites were attached to the Briz-M upper stage which would transfer them into geosynchronous orbit. The Briz-M undertakes a series of four burns with coasting stages in order to do this. The third burn was due to be 18 minutes long but the engines cut out after 7 seconds, leaving the satellites in unusable orbits.
This was the second launch failure caused by a Briz-M within twelve months as Ekspress-AM4 was lost in August 2011 due to a computer error. Other recent launch failures included three GLONASS satellites in 2011 and Mars probe Fobos-Grunt. All Proton-M launches were suspended and all Briz-M stages were recalled. This triggered discussion on the crisis in the Russian space industry with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev quoted as saying, "We are losing authority and billions of rubles" due to the frequent launch failures. Medvedev chaired a meeting on the issue on 14 August 2012 and President Vladimir Putin had a meeting on organisational issues. One of the suggestions is that Roscosmos could be transformed into a corporation similar to Rosatom.
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