A space-bound satellite designed to provide Internet access to remote regions in Russia and neighboring states was destroyed when its ride blew apart mid-flight. The Proton-M rocket, affixed with a European-built Express AM4R satellite, seemed to be doing well until nine minutes into the flight, when it exploded some 93 miles above Earth. The exact cause of the crash apparently was not known, but the head of the Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said that preliminary information suggested an “emergency pressure drop in a steering engine.”
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Russian Rocket, Satellite Don't Quite Make It
Posted by: David Vranicar May 19, 2014 10:05 AMA space-bound satellite designed to provide Internet access to remote regions in Russia and neighboring states was destroyed when its ride blew apart mid-flight. The Proton-M rocket, affixed with a European-built Express AM4R satellite, seemed to be doing well until nine minutes into the flight, when it exploded some 93 miles above Earth. The exact cause of the crash apparently was not known, but the head of the Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said that preliminary information suggested an “emergency pressure drop in a steering engine.”