According to Nicholay Testoedov, CEO of the Russian company Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems, the communications space vehicle designed and manufactured for Ukraine, has been still stored in the company’s installations for one year.
As RIA Novosti reports referring to the speech of Mr. Testoedov at the aerospace exhibition held in Dubai, the satellite “Lybid-1” designed for Ukraine by order of the Canadian MDA is fully ready to hand it over to the Ukrainian party. However, due to the fact that the plant “Yuzhmash” responsible for manufacturing a launch vehicle for that satellite has been experiencing financial difficulties, the space vehicle remains in storage at the Reshetnev ISS. The same information was provided by Yuri Vilkov, Deputy CEO of the manufacturer, in his speech on May 21 this year.
In spite of some media’s information that the satellite was delivered to Ukraine, the vehicle still remains in the installations of the Information Satellite Systems Company. The agreement signed with the Canadian MDA provides for a two-year storage period of the vehicle at the Russian enterprise.
Ukraine requires the satellite to set up the national communications system. The launch was supposed to carry out during the first three months of 2015. The space vehicle’ signal aims at covering the territory of Ukraine and adjacent states, the North Africa and partially the Asian continent. The project is evaluated at around USD 292 million. For more information about the project “Lybid” can be read in the interview of the CEO of the state-owned company “Ukrkosmos”.
The Ukrainian National Space Agency signed the contract with the Canadian company MDA on manufacturing the vehicle still in the late 2009. The satellite was to be put into orbit by the launch vehicle “Zenit-3SLB” in 2011. Afterwards the launch was postponed over and over again to 2012, 2013, the middle of 2014, but in view of economic problems of the Ukrainian plant “Yuzhmash” responsible for designing the launch vehicle, the project has not been implemented yet.
