Egyptian satellite reaches target orbit, everything going to plan - Roscosmos
MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The Egyptian telecommunications satellite Egyptsat-A has reached the intended orbit and is sending telemetric data, Roscosmos told Interfax on Thursday.
"Everything is going to plan, telemetrics is coming from the satellite, it is on target orbit," the state corporation said.
The satellite, created by the Rocket Space Corporation Energia for the Egyptian government, is designed for high spatial resolution imaging of the earth.
"After completing the flight test program, control of the satellite will be handed over to Egypt," Roscosmos said.
The EgyptSat-A launch, initially slated for February 7, was re-scheduled for February 21. The satellite should replace another Russian-made satellite, EgyptSat-2, contact with which was lost in April 2015. The satellite was insured by Sputnik insurance company whose license was revoked in 2016. The new satellite was created by RSC Energia with the insurance money paid for its lost predecessor. The EgyptSat-A cost about $100 million to create.