15.12.2012 - 03:13 [ RIA Novosti ]

Troubled Russian Satellite Reaches Designated Orbit

A wayward Russian satellite reached its designated geostationary orbit on Saturday after its engine was switched on for the fourth time, the Gazprom Space Systems (GSS) company said.

The Yamal-402 satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space for GSS, the telecommunications arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, to provide communication links over most of Russia, the CIS, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.