Telkom-3

Aftermath

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.^[5] 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.^{[4][7][8][9][10][11][12]}

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 Roskosmos head Vladimir Popovkin and was headed by O.P. Skorobogatov from TsNIIMash. It was reported in early August 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.^{[5][13][14][15]}

On 16 October 2012 the Briz-M exploded into eighty pieces.^[16]

The director general of Khrunichev, Vladimir Nesterov, was dismissed from his post by President Vladimir Putin.^[17] The Proton-M returned to flight on 14 October, carrying Intelsat 23. It had been postponed from August due to the launch failure.^[5][18]

The replacement satellite, named Telkom-3S, was contract awarded to its satellite competitor, Thales Alenia Space on 28 July 2014^[19]. Telkom-3S was launched from the Guiana Space Centre on 14 February 2017^[20] and commissioned into service on 17 April 2017.^[21]