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ISS Reshetnev Director General Confirms Ukrainian Satellite Launch Delay

By Jeffrey Hill | June 11, 2012

      [Satellite TODAY 06-11-12] The launch of the first Ukrainian telecommunications satellite, Lybid, will be pushed back from its original 2013 target date due to the year-and-a-half it took to reach an agreement on the satellite’s orbital position, ISS Reshetnev Chief Designer and Director General Nikolai Testoedov announced June 8.

         “We’re working, but unfortunately, the project has been suspended for almost one-and-a-half years. The customer [the State Space Agency of Ukraine] had problems with the registration of orbital and frequency resources. Better to say, the issue of the allocation of an orbital slot for the satellite was being settled,” Testoedov said in a statement.
         Testoedov said ISS Reshetnev recently held a meeting in Canada with manufacturer MDA to discuss the formation of new plans.
         The National Space Agency of Ukraine awarded MDA the contract to build the Lybid satellite in December 2009. MDA also was contracted to supply two satellite control centers and other ground infrastructure.