Following the recent failure to deliver the Progress cargo vehicle to the ISS, the Russian space agency has now suffered another failure, this time to a Proton rocket attempting to deliver the MexSat-1 communications satellite to orbit.
The Proton rocket, which first launched fifty years ago, lifted off from Pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday, May 16. Initially the rocket appeared to be performing nominally, following the planned trajectory to orbit. However, eight minutes into launch the coverage was ended and a “non-nominal situation” was declared.
The International Launch Services, who market Proton missions to customers such as the Mexican government, provided a statement shortly after the launch coverage ended.
“Khrunichev and International Launch Services (ILS) regret to announce an anomaly during today’s Proton mission with the Centenario satellite.”
“Preliminary flight information indicates that the anomaly occurred during the operation of the third stage, approximately 490 seconds after liftoff.”
The Proton rocket, which first launched fifty years ago, lifted off from Pad 39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday, May 16. Initially the rocket appeared to be performing nominally, following the planned trajectory to orbit. However, eight minutes into launch the coverage was ended and a “non-nominal situation” was declared.
The International Launch Services, who market Proton missions to customers such as the Mexican government, provided a statement shortly after the launch coverage ended.
“Khrunichev and International Launch Services (ILS) regret to announce an anomaly during today’s Proton mission with the Centenario satellite.”
“Preliminary flight information indicates that the anomaly occurred during the operation of the third stage, approximately 490 seconds after liftoff.”
The mission will now be reviewed by the Russian space agency and the ILS. Initial reports from Russian media suggest that the issue could be related to the steering engines of the Proton rocket’s third stage. Unconfirmed reports have also indicated that the third stage and the satellite have come down over the area of Chita in Russia, close to the Mongolian border.
With the failure of the Proton third stage this time last year in the Ekspress AM4R launch, the Proton rocket and Roscosmos will now be under even more intense scrutiny. Russia hopes that in the coming years the new Angara rocket will replace the aging Proton rocket. Many have also raised doubts over the Russian’s ability to transport crew to the ISS, and time will tell if this failure, combined with the issue with the Progress vehicle, will in any way alter NASA’s Commercial Crew program.
To add insult to injury, Russia were also unable to provide a boost to the International Space Station’s altitude today. The planned boost to a higher altitude was not performed, and so far Russian officials have yet to give a reason for this. I think it is safe to say that today was not the best day for Russian space.
With the failure of the Proton third stage this time last year in the Ekspress AM4R launch, the Proton rocket and Roscosmos will now be under even more intense scrutiny. Russia hopes that in the coming years the new Angara rocket will replace the aging Proton rocket. Many have also raised doubts over the Russian’s ability to transport crew to the ISS, and time will tell if this failure, combined with the issue with the Progress vehicle, will in any way alter NASA’s Commercial Crew program.
To add insult to injury, Russia were also unable to provide a boost to the International Space Station’s altitude today. The planned boost to a higher altitude was not performed, and so far Russian officials have yet to give a reason for this. I think it is safe to say that today was not the best day for Russian space.