Russians have another botched Proton launch

Analoguesat

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The Russkies have managed to lose another 2 comms sats - this time Telkom-3 & Express MD-2 are stranded in useless intermediate orbits after the upper stage of the Proton rocket malfunctioned.


ILS Launch press release

On 7 August at 1:31 a.m. local time, a Proton Breeze M vehicle carrying the Express MD2 and Telkom 3 satellites launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Proton M launch vehicle performed nominally, however, the Orbital Unit (OU), comprised of the Breeze M upper stage and the two spacecraft, did not properly reach its transfer orbit and was placed into an off-nominal intermediate orbit. The Aerospace Defense and Roscosmos, are currently monitoring the OU and efforts are now underway to establish contact with the Express MD2 and Telkom 3 satellites.

An investigation into the anomaly began immediately. A Russian State Commission of inquiry has been established and is in the process of determining the reasons for the anomaly. ILS will release details when data become available. While this was a Russian Federal mission, ILS will form its own Failure Review Oversight Board (FRO:cool: in parallel with the Russian State Commission. The FROB will review the commission’s final report and corrective action plan, in accordance with U.S. and Russian government export control regulations.

ILS remains committed to providing reliable, timely launch services for all its customers. To this end, ILS will work diligently with its partner Khrunichev to return Proton to flight as soon as possible.

Further updates will be provided on the investigation as they become available.
 

rolfw

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Oops. . . . . .
 

Channel Hopper

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U.S. Air Force tracking data indicate the rocket and its two passengers reached an orbit ranging in altitude from 165 miles to 3,118 miles with an inclination of 49.9 degrees.


Going to be difficult to recover then.
 

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...more fireworks in the night sky to watch for then ..
This is getting all too frequent ...and one day a chunk will return to earth with vengeance..
 

Piltdownpaul

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Too true , imagine the insurance bill that would appear if one came down in a heavily populated area. It doesnt bear thinking about.
 

Captain Jack

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Idiots..... Not that I am not patriotic or anything...
 

Analoguesat

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A report here

-http://www.zarya.info/Gallimaufry/120707ProtonFailure.php

with a beautiful YT video from a lad in Canada who managed to image the satellites going overhead!

Its quite clear from the YT vid that the satelllites have seperated from the stack. In this case they are almost certainly a lost cause as they wont have anywhere near enough propellant to get to geostationary orbit.
 

2cvbloke

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Imagine if they were built & launched by British Leyland, they'd never even get off the ground.... :-rofl2
 

A nonymous

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How do you work that one out? The last BL car i had spent lots of time off the ground. Usually on a four poster ramp :D
 

Channel Hopper

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An article published by the Russian newspaper "Kommersant" August 8 said that the main culprits being looked at are low-quality fuel and a failure of the turbo-pump. The possibility of a clogged fuel line has apparently been eliminated and human error is off the table too.




_http://www.zarya.info/Gallimaufry/120707ProtonFailure.php
 

Channel Hopper

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Captain Jack said:
Idiots..... Not that I am not patriotic or anything...


International Launch Services
1875 Explorer Street
Suite 700
Reston, VA 20190


_http://www.ilslaunch.com/contact-us
 
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