Several television channels in Kamchatka Territory and Turkmenistan ceased broadcasting on 3 June as a result of technical failure on a Russian communications satellite, RIA Novosti reported on the same day. Service to both areas was later resumed, although there were conflicting reports as to how this was achieved.
On Wednesday evening 3 June, malfunctions on the Yamal satellite led to the transmission of a number of television channels in Turkmenistan and Kamchatka ceasing for several hours.
A source in the rocket and space industry told RIA Novosti that there had been a programming failure on the satellite but that the Yamal satellite’s work had resumed.
However, according to a source at the Kamchatka Region television and radio broadcasting centre, broadcast of programmes in the region had resumed by transmitting the signal via other satellites. “It is not yet known what precisely happened with the Yamal satellite and whether its work will be resumed,” the source said.
Meanwhile, a source in the same television and radio broadcasting centre told Interfax news agency that the cause of the problem was that the Yamal-200 satellite “lost stability”. However, the source added that “at this time, broadcasting of the television channels has already been resumed”.
(Sources: RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in Russian 2052, 1950, 2239 gmt 3 Jun 09; Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 2126 gmt 3 Jun 09 all via BBC Monitoring)
