Telkom-3

Ground track of Telkom-3

This was the second launch failure caused by a Briz-M within twelve months as Ekspress-AM4 was lost in August 2011 due to a computer error.[6] Other recent launch failures included three GLONASS satellites in 2011 and Mars probe Fobos-Grunt. All Proton-M launches were suspended and all Briz-M stages were recalled. This triggered discussion on the crisis in the Russian space industry with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev quoted as saying "We are losing authority and billions of rubles" due to the frequent launch failures. Medvedev chaired a meeting on the issue on 14 August 2012 and President Vladimir Putin had a meeting on organisational issues. One of the suggestions is that Roscosmos could be transformed into a corporation similar to Rosatom.[5][9][10][11]

Russian president Vladimir Putin with Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin (right) and Dmitry Rogozin (left) in a meeting on problems in the space industry, August 2012.

An investigation was set up by Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin and was headed by O.P. Skorobogatov from TsNIIMash. It was reported in early August 2012 by Russian newspaper Kommersant that the failure was caused by a fault in the fuel pipe in the Briz-M. The Khrunichev Failure Review Oversight Board found that it was caused by a faulty component in the pressurisation system.[6][12][13] On 16 October 2012, the Briz-M exploded into eighty pieces.[14]

The director general of Khrunichev, Vladimir Nesterov, was dismissed from his post by President Vladimir Putin.[15] The Proton-M returned to flight on 14 October 2012, carrying Intelsat 23. It had been postponed from August 2012 due to the launch failure.[6][16]

In early 2021, concerns arose about the imminent reentry of Telkom-3 to the Atmosphere of Earth after over eight years in orbit. The National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) reported that they started an intensive study of the reentry since mid-January 2021.[20] By 1 January 2021, the satellite's orbit had decayed to 217 x 555 km x 49.9°.[4] The orbital inclination of 49.9° meant that it could reenter anywhere between latitude 49.9° North and 49.9° South, and it was calculated to have a 1:140000 casualty risk.[21] The satellite's orbit was tracked by U.S. radars throughout its time in orbit, and Space-Track[4] reported that it reentered between 09:26 and 09:42 UTC on 5 February 2021, somewhere on an arc from Kazakhstan through southern Mongolia and northern China. The Indonesian government reported that although Telkom-3 had returned to Earth's surface, the exact location was unknown and there were no reports of debris being found.[22]