Failed Russian rocket was “too heavy”
December 9, 2010
A Proton-M rocket that failed to launch 3 GPS satellites on December 5 could have been too heavy, say local investigators. The rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean destroying its important cargo, and forcing Russian officials to suspend all Proton launches while they determine what went wrong.
Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that one theory that the rocket’s DM-03 upper stage was carrying one tonne of fuel more than was necessary. This had the effect of slowing the rocket down, by about 100 metres per second, and thus insufficient to reach its target transfer orbit.
The Board of Investigation has yet to report on its examination of the disaster, but the delay could impact the launch of Eutelsat’s important Ka-Sat craft scheduled for December 20.
Other posts by :
- SES warns of risks for airlines adopting Starlink
- Starlink facing backlash in South Africa
- China wants 200,000 satellites
- Bank raises view on AST to $100
- Frost & Sullivan cites Hughes as #1
- Verizon cutting prices
- ScotiaBank confuses market over AST SpaceMobile
- EchoStar gains bank support
- SpaceX complains to FCC over AST SpaceMobile