MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Proton-M rocket carrying three additional satellites for its Glonass global positioning and navigation network fell to ground shortly after launch early on Tuesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.
The launch was broadcast live by the Rossyia 24 television.
“There was an accident during the launch,” a space industry source told RIA Novosti.
It was the second unsuccessful launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket with DM-03 booster in the past three years.
Russia lost three Glonass satellites in December 2010 when a Proton-M veered off course and crashed in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket was also equipped with a DM-3 booster, designed and manufactured by the Energia space corporation.
A state investigation commission later concluded that Energia experts miscalculated how much fuel was needed for the DM-3 rocket booster. As a result, the amount of oxidant exceeded the norm by 1-1.5 tons and excessive weight prevented the Proton-M rocket from putting the satellites into their calculated orbit.
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