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LAUNCH PAD
Third-stage engine glitch causes Proton-M accident
by Staff Writers
Moscow (Voice of Russia) May 21, 2014


File image.

A third-stage engine glitch has caused the crash of a Proton-M launch vehicle propelling the Express-AM4R heavy telecom satellite, Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) chief Oleg Ostapenko said on Friday. "It would be too much early to announce the cause of the accident, but clearly problems occurred in the rocket third-stage propulsion system," he said.

Telemetric data received in the LV ascent is now being processed, he said. "Information is being gathered at the Baikonur space center," Ostapenko added.

Official decision to ground Proton rockets not signed so far - Roscosmos chief
The Russian Federal Space Agency has not so far suspended launches of Proton-M rockets after the Express-AM4R heavy telecommunications satellite was lost on Friday, Roscosmos head Oleg Ostapenko said. "We are currently assessing the circumstances. A decision to suspend the launches has not been signed so far. But, naturally, we will not conduct any launches until we establish the cause of the accident," he said.

Altai have seen no Proton-M debris as of yet
The Altai territory and the Republic of Altai have no information as of yet about the possible fall to their territories of debris of a Proton-M launch vehicle, which crashed early on Friday morning.

The press center of the Republic of Altai department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-Being (Rospotrebnadzor) told Interfax the information about the possible fall of rocket debris in the area had not been confirmed.

"We have called every district and Emergency Situations Ministry services and none of them confirms the fall of debris to our territory. There is information that the debris fell outside of our territory, much farther," the press center said.

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry department in the Altai territory does not possess information about the possible fall of rocket debris there either.

"We have no information about the fall of debris in our region. We do not possess such information so far," the department press center told Interfax.

Reportedly, the Express-AM4R telecom satellite launched from Baikonur early on Friday morning might have fallen to Altai or the Amur region.

That was the tenth space launch conducted by Russia in 2014. All the previous missions of the year were successful.

Proton-M rocket fails to put satellite into orbit - source
The unmanned Russian Proton-M rocket has failed to place the Express-AM4R communications satellite into orbit, a Russian space rocket industry source told Interfax-AVN on Friday.

"The malfunction occurred during the operations of the second and third stages of the launch vehicle. Specialists are now analyzing telemetry data. The satellite has apparently been lost," the source said.

A contract to build the Express-AM4R satellite was signed in December 2011. Express-AM4R was produced by Europe's EADS Astrium for the Russian satellite communication services operator Space Communications.

Express-AM4R is similar to the Express-AM4 satellite, which was lost following its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in August 2011.

Express-AM4 was subsequently tracked on a non-nominal orbit.

The Proton-M rocket with the Briz-M upper stage and the Express-AM4 satellite lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the early hours of August 18.

The rocket operated as planned, but telemetry transmission from the Briz-M and Express-AM4 stopped between the fourth and fifth firings of the upper stage's thrust engine. The satellite signal was lost completely, leading to reports that the satellite failed to enter the intended orbit.

Carrier rocket Proton-M burnt up in the dense layers of atmosphere
The carrier rocket Proton-M, which was launched from Baikonur together with the communications satellite Express-AM4R, has burnt up in the dense layers of the atmosphere, an official of Russia's Federal Space Agency said. "Some small fragments of the rocket could fall onto Earth. An impact area is being ascertained," the space official said.

According to the data given by him, the engine of the third stage of the carrier rocket failed at an altitude of 161 km because of deviation of the Proton-M from the flight path. "There was an angle-and-bank error," he said.

According to the source, the toxic components of the rocket fuel remaining in the third stage of the Proton and the booster unit Briz-M most likely burned up in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Satellites of the Exress series have been insured for 2.5 billion roubles.

An emergency cutout of the propulsion unit of the Proton-M carrier rocket occurred between the separation of the second and third stages, an official at Roscosmos (Russia's Federal Space Agency) has told the Russian news agency TASS.

"Contact with the carrier rocket was lost in the 540th second after liftoff," the official specified, adding, "It is known that the nose cone did not separate from the rocket". Third-stage engines for Proton space rockets are manufactured at the Voronezh-based OAO "Khimavtomatika Design Bureau" (KBKhA) space-rocket industry enterprise.

The carrier rocket Proton-M was to deploy into orbit the highest-powered and technologically effective commsat which was intended to become a third spacecraft of the Express series launched in 2014.

The non-deployment of the communications satellite Express-AM4R into orbit was caused by an abnormal situation, Irina Zubareva, press secretary of the Roscosmos director, told Itar-Tass on Friday.

"An abnormal situation developed during the insertion in the operation of the third stage of the carrier rocket, and the spacecraft Express-AM4R was not deployed into orbit. State commission members are now busy analyzing telemetric data, seeking to find out the causes of the abnormal situation," she said.

Fragments of the carrier rocket could fall in unforeseen debris impact areas, a space industry source has told Itar-Tass. "In any case, Proton-M rocket fragments did not fall in the grounds of Baikonur, or in general in the territory of Kazakhstan. Most probably, this happened (when the rocket was) already far away, in an off-normal impact area," the source said.

"All the causes and a possible impact area are being ascertained. No information has been received from Baikonur so far, since people monitoring the Proton-M liftoff are in a bunker at the moment of liftoff proper," the source specified. He added, "The breakdown occurred during the operation of the third stage of the carrier rocket, prior to the acceleration unit's separation".

"The Proton-M carrier rocket at this moment is most likely in a non-intended orbit. The propulsion unit emergency cutout, which happened in the 540th second (of the flight) during the operation of the third stage, was not necessarily to result in its fall," a source at Russia's Federal Space Agency has told Itar-Tass.

Source: Voice of Russia

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LAUNCH PAD
Russia's Roscosmos plans to launch two more Protons this year
Moscow (Voice of Russia) May 21, 2014
The Russian federal space agency Roscosmos planned two more launches of Proton-M rockets for 2014, the agency's chief Oleg Ostapenko told ITAR-TASS on Friday. "Two more launches are scheduled for this year. A launch of Glonass satellites is planned, but if necessary. The second launch will be with an astrophysical satellite," he said. The Roscosmos chief noted there would be no launches un ... read more


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