[SatNews] The news is not good for this latest Russian satellite launch...

Russia's federal space agency says it lost contact with a major communications satellite shortly after its launch. The Express AM-4 satellite was launched atop a booster rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Thursday, on a mission to provide digital communications across Russia. The space agency said the satellite's booster initially worked fine, but that there was a “failure” during a later stage. Officials stated they are working to re-establish contact with the European-built satellite, described as Russia's most powerful telecommunications tool. The mishap is the latest in a series of botched launches, the most recent of which was last February when a Russian military satellite was lost. Last December, a technical malfunction led to the loss of three navigation satellites and ultimately cost the then-space chief Anatoly Perminov his job.