Moscow - BNA
Rocket\'s propulsion unit fails Moscow - BNA The Russian Federation\'s Aerospace Agency (ROSCOSMOS) announced this morning that two telecommunications satellites failed to reach their prescribed orbit a short while after launch from the Russian aerospace base in Kazakhstan. ROSCOSMOS stated in its website that both satellites (Express/MD2) and (Proton/M) were launched yesterday but failed to reach their prescribed orbit as a result of a fault in the rocket\'s propulsion unit. Russian media quoted some senior aerospace officials as saying that the launching of (Proton) rockets will be suspended in future until the cause of the accident could be determined. (Express/MD2) was presumed to improve TV broadcast and telecommunications in the former USSR countries over a period of ten years. The Russian satellite (Telecom/3) was manufactured in favor of Indonesia for the purpose of providing telecommunication service for Indonesia over the next fifteen years.