Turkmenistan switches from Russian satellite
March 28, 2017
By Chris Forrester
Turkmenistan Ministry of Communications says that its broadcast of national TV-channels and of national radio stations has ceased over the Russian Yamal-401 satellite. The satellite is owned by Russian satellite operator Gazprom Space Systems.
The broadcast will be carried out under the Turkmenistan state-owned satellite Turkmen Alem.
Turkmen Alem is positioned at 52 deg East, and also goes by the name MonacoSat. It was launched on April 27 2015 by a Falcon 9 rocket owned by SpaceX. The satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space.
The Turkmenistan ‘half’ of the satellite contains 26 transponders, while the MonacoSat portion has 12 transponders which are commercialised by SES of Luxembourg and allows for expansion of the Abu Dhabi-based YahSat/YahLive DTH service from the adjacent 52.5 East position.