By Maria Golovnina
Kazakhstan's
communications satellite, used by many of
the country's television broadcasters, is
out of control due to a computer glitch and
is likely to be lost altogether, space
officials said on Monday.
Kazakhstan launched the
Russian-build KazSat-1 satellite in June
2006, the first of four which it aimed to
have in orbit by 2020 and which it said
would establish the Central Asian country as
a global space power.
"There is a high
probability that the satellite will be
lost," Kazakhstan's National Space Agency
said in a statement.
Agency head Talgat
Musabayev said the satellite, which experts
said cost $60 million to $100 million at the
time of launch, has been out of touch since
June 8 and could no longer be controlled
from a space command centre in neighboring
Russia.
"It's still alive but
it's not breathing well," Musabayev, himself
a former cosmonaut, told reporters. "It is
not responding to commands."
Musabayev said a
breakdown in KazSat's onboard digital
computing system was to blame for its sudden
failure, which forced some of Kazakhstan's
major broadcasters, such as the state-run
channel Khabar TV, to switch to more costly
back-up satellites.
