Measat-3a a success, satellite launched at Cosmodrome

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan): The clear sky was ablazed with the launch of Measat-3a at the Cosmodrome.

At 5.50am Malaysian time yesterday, a Russian-made rocket launched the 2,417kg satellite into space as more than 50 Malaysians gathered to watch the event several kilometres from the launch site.

The satellite is manufactured by Orbital Sciences Corporation, USA, at a cost of RM600mil.

Student Ahmad Ruiz, 17, said watching the whole sequence of the 60m rocket blasting off into space and the spacecraft separation left him speechless.

“I was gobsmacked. I expected to see the rocket shoot straight up but instead it started moving left very fast,” he said.

Fellow student Cliff Asher R. Ongil said he had wanted to be a doctor, but witnessing the event made him consider moonlighting as a cosmonaut.

The group, led by Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, had gathered at specially set up tents near the launch pad.

Dr Rais, who was watching a rocket launch live for the first time, said he was “very proud and jubilant.”

“This has expended Malaysia’s technological leap into the future as a successful nation.

“The challenge now is whether young Malaysians can one day create their own rockets to send into space,” he said.

Dr Rais also said the Government would work closely with private corporations to develop a training programme for students interested in outer space advancements.

Astro TV chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan said besides providing a backup for Measat-3, the new satellite would enable the company to introduce more products and services.

Later at a press conference in Moscow, Measat vice-president of engineering and operations Dr Ali R. Evadi said the satellite was in the transfer orbit where it would remain for about a week before moving into the designated 91.50E orbital hotslot.

The satellite with a 15-year life span successfully separated from the launch vehicle at 12.15pm Malaysian time.

PMR 2007 top-scorers K. Chandra Sekhar, Cliff Asher, Ahmad Ruiz, Lina Na’ilah and Edmund Lau from Malaysia were among a group of 14 from Indonesia, India, Britain and the Philippines who were on an all-expense paid trip to observe the launch and the Russian space industry.

- THE STAR