[SatNews] Russia suspended launches of its chief Proton-M rocket on Tuesday...

According to an article in the National Post by Alissa de Carbonnel, this suspension is due to the multimillion-dollar loss of a communications satellite, the latest in a string of setbacks. Russia’s space agency, Roskosmos, said the failure of the rocket’s upper stage, responsible for boosting satellites into final orbit, was the most likely cause for last week’s botched launch. Experts were still trying to link back up with the US$265-million Express AM4 satellite, billed by its maker EADS as the most powerful ever built in Europe, after it disappeared from monitors shortly after launch last Thursday.

The costly debacle on Russia’s principal launch vehicle for heavy commercial and military satellites is a major embarrassment for the Russian aerospace industry, coming on the heels of a series of other mishaps. With 10 more Proton-M launches planned this year, the rocket is the backbone of Russia’s space industry and has seen several upgrades since the Soviet era to extend its lifespan. Space officials blame the Proton-M’s recently developed upper stage Briz-M for dropping the Express AM4 onto the wrong path last week.

The North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) has pinpointed the satellite’s location, but unless experts manage to re-establish contact and manoeuvre it back into the correct orbit, the satellite will be useless to its planned digital television, Internet and government communication services. A similar breakdown of the Briz-KM upper stage on another Russian rocket led to the loss of a key military Earth-mapping satellite earlier this year. Space officials said the suspension would not delay the launch of a GLONASS navigation satellite later this week — one in a series aimed at making up for the expensive loss of three satellites earlier this year.