Despite all efforts, the specialists at Dauria Aerospace have so far been unable to establish contact with the MKA-N satellites.
The two MKA-N nanosatellites, designed and built by the Dauria Aerospace Corporation and commissioned by the ROSCOSMOS State Corporation, were launched by the Souyz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage on July 14, 2017. The MKA-N number 1 and 2 separation was registered in the Fregat upper stage telemetry at 12:10 and 12:13 Moscow time respectively.
Following the separation of the MKA-N satellites, all attempts to establish contact were unsuccessful.
Prior to the launch, the MKA-N spacecraft as well as the transporter-launcher deployers underwent the complete series of experimental ground tests, which confirmed the full readiness of the spacecraft for the launch and operations in the conditions of space. The testing was conducted in strict accordance with the conditions of the best practice and the client’s requirements.
The company’s employees have done a considerable amount of work in order to establish contact with the spacecrafts. The company’s ground stations were duly modernized for the task. We are making use of our company’s main and secondary means of control, as well as relying on additional help from our partners and colleagues. We are grateful to them for all their support and assistance. However, we are sorry to admit that we are currently unable to establish contact with the MKA-N satellites.
Both satellites are currently in a Sun synchronous orbit, which means that the efforts to establish contact with them will continue.
The engineers at Dauria Aerospace are currently considering several possible causes of the failure as well as the follow-up procedures. As a working hypothesis some internal causes having to do with the spacecraft design, the quality of the components and the software are being considered, as well as the likelihood of an external impact.
In order to clarify all the circumstances and the cause of the failure of the MKA-N satellites our company would like to make a public call to all institutions and businesses, whose spacecraft were launched simultaneously with ours.
We do realize that the considerations of commercial confidentiality or keeping business reputation intact do not facilitate full openness. We have waited for 40 days hoping that a miracle might happen and the satellites would come alive. You might have possibly registered some abnormalities during the separation phase or while establishing contact with the satellites, or during follow-up operations. This information would be a great help to Dauria Aerospace’s effort to establish the cause of the issue with the MKA-N satellites. We are open for dialogue in such a way as to satisfy all parties involved.