The satellite
It seems that every SpaceX launch involves some kind of drama. While not very evident this time, the satellite origins and the customer behind it is pretty weird!
The satellite, with the formal name of TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat (more on that later), is the first ever satellite for the central Asian country of Turkmenistan. Being one of the ex-Soviet "-stans" with quite a bit of oil reserves, that country is one of the strangest ones in the world I have known, being [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saparmurat_Niyazov"]lead by a strange dictator until a few years ago[/ame], [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashgabat"]boasts a rather elegant looking capital with no one walking there[/ame] and
an empty resort town on the Caspian Sea, and is still one of the most closed states in the world (only slight better than North Korea!). Ironically, the latest strange act from the nation is
the prohibition of private use satellite dishes, due to people there listening to "foreign media" like a Turkmen language radio station from U.S.-funded Radio Liberty!
The communication satellite also has a weird twist of its own. Contracted to European aerospace giant Thales Alenia Space in 2011, the original plan was to launch it by probably the last competitor one could link to SpaceX - the Chinese! They were to launch it with their flagship rocket, the Long March 3B, in August last year, as well as providing ground infrastructure. The change happened in mid-2013 when it was discovered that TAS can't export the satellite to the Chinese due to use of parts governed by the ITAR regulations of the US, which was tightened up during that time. Facing the problem of having to replacement of those parts (which eventually led to TAS closing the "ITAR-free" satellite production option) and a new LSP, they ended up with SpaceX just over a year before it was to be launched! Hence, SpaceX ended up with one of the least likely customer it would ever have. :rofl:
Of course, the little nation don't have the demand to use up the whole satellite, or even have a slot of their own at GSO. Hence Turkmenistan ended up
in co-operation with the state of Monaco to use their slot and let them to use 12 of the 38 transponders, which in turn was given to Europe's SES for marketing. This arrangement is actually quite common to smaller nation's own comsats.
PAYLOAD
TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat communication satellite
Spacecraft Overview
The government of Turkmenistan has contracted in November 2011 with Thales Alenia Space to build the nation’s first telecommunications satellite, named TürkmenÄlem 52E, to be launched in 2014 into an orbital slot controlled by the government of Monaco. The satellite is erroneously also known as Turkmensat-1.
The decision to move forward with the national satellite project follows the creation in early 2011 of a Turkmen space agency, whose mandate includes satellite communications and the operation of the spacecraft from Turkmen territory.
The Turkmen Ministry of Communications signed an agreement with Space Systems International-Monaco S.A.M. under which the Turkmen satellite will be stationed at the Monaco-registered 52° east position (also known as Monacosat 1) for its 15-year service life. SES has the rights to commercialise the entire MonacoSat payload of 12 Ku-band transponders on the TürkmenÄlem 52E satellite.
The satellite is expected to weigh about 4,500 kilograms at launch, provide 10 kilowatts of power to the payload and to carry an undetermined number of Ku-band transponders.
Originally scheduled for a launch on a Chinese CZ-3B/G2 booster, it was moved in June 2013 to a SpaceX Falcon-9 v1.1 launch in 2014. Due changes made to ITAR, the move was required, as some US made parts could no longer be exported to China for launch.
[table="head"]{colsp=2}Summary
Parameter|
Value
Working Orbit:
|
GEO
Orbital Location:
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52° East
Coverage:
|
Central Asia, Europe, Middle East, North Africa
ApA at separation:
|
~36000 km
PeA at separation:
|
~200 km
Inc at separation:
|
~26°
[/table]
[table="head"]Characteristics|
TurkmenAlem52E/MonacoSat
Customer:
|
- Government of Turkmenistan / SSI-Monaco
Prime contractor:
|
Platform:
|
Mass at Separation:
|
Dry Mass:
|
Stabilization:
|
Dimensions:
|
Power at end-of-life:
|
Primary Payload:
|
Coverage area:
|
Life time:
|
|
[/table]
h:
