Russian rocket breaks down after launch

KIEV, Ukraine – A Russian rocket carrying a Mexican satellite malfunctioned Saturday shortly after its launch – the latest mishap to hit Russia’s troubled space industry.

The rocket, a Proton-M, was launched from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan. Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, said a problem involving steering engines occurred in the rocket’s third stage about eight minutes into its flight, 97 miles above the Earth. The agency said the rocket and Boeing-constructed satellite did not reach their planned orbit and almost all of the debris from the two burned up in the atmosphere.

A search for possible debris was conducted in the Zabaikalsky region of eastern Siberia bordering Mongolia and China after people there reported hearing loud claps at the time of the launch. The federal agency leading the search said no debris had yet been found.

The last failed launch of a Proton-M occurred exactly a year ago, also caused by a problem in the rocket’s third stage. Since then, there have been six successful flights.

The Interfax news agency quoted industry sources saying the failure could result in the suspension of all upcoming Proton-M launches, including the next one in June for a British satellite.

In a separate space failure Saturday, Roscosmos also reported that a Progress spaceship attached to the International Space Station failed to ignite its engine, thus failing to adjust the orbit of the space station. The agency said it was looking into why that happened, but added that the space station’s crew was not in any danger from the incident.