Yamal (satellite constellation)


Yamal is a communication and broadcasting system developed and operated by Gazprom Space Systems. Born out of the connectivity needs of the natural gas extraction giant Gazprom, the system was spun off in its own company, and opened the network to third parties and even went into the public broadcasting industry. Yamal and RSCC's Ekspress constellation are the only two national satellite operators in Russia.

History

During 1997, even before the launch of their first satellites, Gazkom was planning the second generation. At that time, they planned 24 satellites of the second generation. This extremely aggressive plan was scaled back by 2001 with a plan to launch four 200 series satellites. The first two, Yamal 201 and Yamal 202 planned to be launched by 2001 and the second pair, Yamal 203 and Yamal 204 by 2004. Yamal 201 and Yamal 203 were identical and be positioned at the 90° E slot and Yamal 202 and Yamal 204 were also twinned and be positioned at the 49° E slot.
Yamal 101 and Yamal 102 were launched together on 6 September 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 Yamal 101 was lost right after the successful launch. Thus, 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.
Yamal 201 and Yamal 202 were launched on 24 November 2003 at 16:02 UTC from Baikonur Site 81/23 by a Proton-K/Blok-DM-2M directly to GEO. The launch and satellite deployment was successful and both were commissioned into service.
By 2007, the program delays made Gazkom move to the Yamal 301 and Yamal 302 project, cancelling both Yamal 203 and Yamal 204. Those were more advanced versions of the spacecraft they would have to replace. But by early 2008, Energia and Gazkom enter into a disagreement over the cost and schedule of Yamal 301 and Yamal 302, which was even submitted to arbitrage. In the end, the contract with Energia is cancelled and a new Yamal-300K is hastily ordered from ISS Reshetnev for a 2009 launch date.
In February 2009, Gazprom Space Systems announced a contract with Thales Alenia Space for two satellites: Yamal-401 and Yamal-402. This was the first time a foreign supplier would build a satellite for internal Russian market. After much lobby from local industry, the contract for the bus and integration of Yamal-401 is cancelled and awarded to ISS Reshetnev, but Thales is allowed to keep the payload supply.
On 9 August 2010, it was decommissioned and sent to a graveyard orbit. The satellite lasted 4079 days, a bit short of the design life of 12.5 years.
Yamal 300K was launched along Luch 5B 2 November 2012, at 21:04 UTC from Baikonur Site 81/23 by a Proton-M/Briz-M directly to GEO. The launch and satellite deployment was successful and Yamal 300K was commissioned into service.
On 8 December 2012 at 13:13:43 UTC a Proton-M/Briz-M launches Yamal-402 to a geostationary transfer orbit. The same day, Khrunichev Center and International Launch Services reported an anomaly during the launch in which the Briz-M stage failed 4 minutes before scheduled shut down on its fourth burn. On 10 December, specialists from Thales Alenia Space carried out maneuvers to bring the satellite into its designated orbit after a premature separation from Briz-M. On 15 December, Yamal-402 was taken to its planned geostationary orbit at the altitude of 36,000 km following a series of four adjustment operations. The satellite lost 4 years of fuel to compensate for lower than expected orbit injection.
In 2013. Gazprom Board decides a new plan. It requires two new satellites: Yamal-501 and Yamal-601. It also calls for a new seven spacecraft observation constellation of optical and radar low-Earth-orbit satellites called SMOTR. And also requires for Gazprom Space Systems to develop its own satellite design and manufacturing capabilities.
In 2014, Gazprom announces a contract with Thales Alenia Space for a new satellite, Yamal-601.
On 5 June 2014, Yamal 201 failed and the clients had to be moved to other satellites of the network. The satellite lasted 3846 days, short of the design life of 12.5 years.
On 15 December 2014, at 00:16:00 UTC a Proton-M/Briz-M launches Yamal-401 directly to geostationary orbit. The launch is successful and the spacecraft is accepted into service.
In 2015, history has repeated itself and the contract of Yamal-601 with Thales is cancelled and is assigned to ISS Reshetnev, but Thales is allowed to keep the payload supply, again.
As a result of another change of decision, Thales Alenia Space was entrusted with the construction of the Yamal-601 entire system. In the end, Thales Alenia Space developed and built the whole Yamal-601 satellite, both satellite bus and payload.

Yamal Satellite Series

While initially, Gazkom used RSC Energia as the exclusive supplier and planned for a 24 bird constellation, after the
SatelliteBusPayloadOrderLaunchLaunch VehicleIntended OrbitLaunch ResultLaunch WeightStatusRemarks
Yamal 101RSC Energia
USP		Space Systems/Loral1999-09-06Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEODual launch with Yamal 102. Failed at separation.
Yamal 102RSC Energia
USP		Space Systems/Loral1999-09-06Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEODual launch with Yamal 101.
Yamal 201RSC Energia
USP		Alcatel Space20012003-11-24Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEODual launch with Yamal 202. Failed on orbit
Yamal 202RSC Energia
USP		Alcatel Space20012003-11-24Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEOIn Nov. 2019 after 16 years of working in 49°E position the satellite was transferred to a new orbital position of 163.5°E. Dual launch with Yamal 201
Yamal-300KEkspress-1000HTA20092012-11-02Proton-M/Briz-MGEOLaunched along Luch 5B.
Yamal-402Spacebus-4000C3Thales Alenia Space20092012-12-08Proton-M/Briz-MGEOSatellite lost 4 years of fuel to compensate for lower than expected orbit injection.
Yamal-401Ekspress-2000Thales Alenia Space20102014-12-15Proton-M/Briz-MGEOReplaced a cancelled satellite. The satellite that this satellite replaced was also named Yamal-401.
Yamal-501
Yamal-601Ekspress-20002015Proton-M/Briz-MGEOOriginally, the build of Yamal-601 satellite was contracted to Thales Alenia Space. Then, a change was investigated; namely, the build of the satellite's bus was suggested to be given to ISS Reshetnev, with Thales Alenia Space still providing the payload. This new Reshetnev-developed satellite was to be called also Yamal-601. But in the end, these plans were cancelled and Thales Alenia Space developed an built the satellite as originally planned.
Yamal 203RSC Energia
USP		Alcatel Space2001Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEO
Yamal 204RSC Energia
USP		Alcatel Space2001Proton-K/Blok-DM-2MGEO
Yamal 301RSC Energia
USP		NEC Toshiba Space/Tesat Spacecom2003Proton-M/Blok DM-03GEO
Yamal 302RSC Energia
USP		NEC Toshiba Space/Tesat Spacecom2003Proton-M/Blok DM-03GEO
Yamal-401Spacebus-4000C3Thales Alenia Space2009Proton-M/Briz-MGEOWas cancelled. This satellite's role was replaced by another, later satellite that also was named Yamal-401.
Yamal-601Spacebus-4000C4Thales Alenia Space20152019-05-30Proton-M/Briz-MGEOSee the other Yamal-601 entry for more information about the Yamal-601 satellite project