Proton launch fails
Posted: Thu, Sep 6, 2007, 8:39 AM ET (1239 GMT)
A Proton rocket carrying a Japanese communications satellite failed to reach orbit early Thursday because of an anomaly with the vehicle's second stage. The Proton-M, carrying the JCSAT-11 spacecraft, lifted off on schedule at 6:43 pm EDT Wednesday (2243 GMT Wednesday, 4:43 am Thursday local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. While the launch initially proceeded as planned, the Proton's second-stage engines apparently failed to ignite, causing the upper stages of the rocket to crash on Kazakh territory downrange from the launch site. Few other details about the accident have been released; International Launch Services, which markets the Proton for commercial customers, said in a statement that a Russian State Commission has been convened to investigate the accident. The Proton's payload, JCSAT-11, was a 4,000-kilogram communications satellite built by Lockheed Martin for Japanese satellite operator JSAT, and was to be a backup to the company's existing fleet of spacecraft. The failure is the second in approximately 18 months for the Proton: a commercial Proton launch in March 2006 failed because of a problem with the vehicle's Breeze-M upper stage.
A Proton rocket carrying a Japanese communications satellite failed to reach orbit early Thursday because of an anomaly with the vehicle's second stage. The Proton-M, carrying the JCSAT-11 spacecraft, lifted off on schedule at 6:43 pm EDT Wednesday (2243 GMT Wednesday, 4:43 am Thursday local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. While the launch initially proceeded as planned, the Proton's second-stage engines apparently failed to ignite, causing the upper stages of the rocket to crash on Kazakh territory downrange from the launch site. Few other details about the accident have been released; International Launch Services, which markets the Proton for commercial customers, said in a statement that a Russian State Commission has been convened to investigate the accident. The Proton's payload, JCSAT-11, was a 4,000-kilogram communications satellite built by Lockheed Martin for Japanese satellite operator JSAT, and was to be a backup to the company's existing fleet of spacecraft. The failure is the second in approximately 18 months for the Proton: a commercial Proton launch in March 2006 failed because of a problem with the vehicle's Breeze-M upper stage.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, October 31
SpaceX targeting Friday for Starlink mission from Vandenberg SFB
Santa Maria (CA) Times — 7:30 am ET (1130 GMT) U.S. Launch Sites Prep for Future Growth
Aviation Week — 7:26 am ET (1126 GMT) South Korea to launch 5th spy satellite from U.S. space base Sunday
JoongAng Daily — 7:25 am ET (1125 GMT) Rocket Lab at 20: From pipe dream to $50 billion space empire
BusinessDesk — 7:25 am ET (1125 GMT) Blue Origin Completes New Glenn Static Hot Fire
Aviation Week — 7:22 am ET (1122 GMT) |
