China's SinoSat-2's solar array and antenna have not fully deployed, but ground control can still manoeuvre it. According to an unidentified space expert, the satellite will probably have to be deorbited to burn up in the earth's atmosphere to make way for its replacement, sinosat3.
"The satellite might become space junk if it stays in the orbit but cannot work properly. If SinoSat-2 cannot be restored, it has to be pushed out of orbit to leave room for its substitute" - Fan Xingmin.
But, ground controllers haven't given up hope of recovering China's SinoSat-2.
A substitute satellite for the failed SinoSat-2, which was to be China's first direct-to-home broadcasting satellite, will take at least three years to develop.
"The company is drafting a replacement plan. The substitute satellite will not be a carbon copy of the previous one and we are expecting more technical upgrades" - Fan Xinming, SinoSat spokesman.
In the company's first public admission that SinoSat-2 suffered a technical failure on Nov. 8, spokesman Fan Xinming said that the satellite failed when the solar power panels stopped working.
"Thus, the spacecraft was unable to provide broadcasting and telecommunications services. High risks are characteristic of the space industry. Many other satellite operators in China and overseas have suffered similar mishaps before. The SinoSat-2 is now located in a quasi-GEO orbit and further investigations are being conducted into the manufacturing faults" - Fan Xinming.
China's first direct-to-home broadcasting satellite has failed less than 10 days after its launch, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. SinoSat-2, the first domestically made satellite that was to beam digital signals directly to some 100 million households, suffered a serious power failure and appeared beyond repair, said a Ms Jia, an engineer at Sino Satellite Communication, the company that operates it.
The Chinese SinoSat-2 communications and broadcast satellite has failed to unfold its main solar panel. Mission controller discovered on November 7 that the satellite did not respond to ground signals. The lack of power now means that there is little chance of recovering the satellite.
The Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off at 12.20 a.m. on Sunday (1620 GMT on Saturday). The launch was China's 51st consecutive successful space launch since October 1996 and the 93rd launch of a Long March series rocket. The imported SinoSat-1 was launched in July 1998 to broadcast Chinese radio and television signals in the Asia-Pacific region. China plans to launch a SinoSat-3 broadcast satellite next year.
The SinoSat-2 communications and broadcast satellite was successfully launched aboard a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan province, at 0:20 on Sunday (Beijing Time). The 5.1 ton new-generation satellite is designed to serve broadcast TV, digital TV, live broadcast TV and digital broadband multimedia systems on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Satellite separation occurred 25 minutes after lift-off and entered . The Satellites orbit will be adjusted several times until it is positioned in geosynchronous orbit at 92.2 East Longitude.