Showing posts with label RIA News Agency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RIA News Agency. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Russian Rocket Crashes In Kazakhstan After Launch | VIDEO


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Russian Rocket Crashes In Kazakhstan After Launch (1)

Russian Rocket Crashes In Kazakhstan After Launch (2)

By Dmitry Solovyov
www.huffingtonpost.com
7-1-13

      ALMATY, Kazakhstan, July 2 (Reuters) - A Russian rocket carrying three navigation satellites worth around $200 million crashed shortly after lift-off from the Russian-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan on Tuesday after its engines suddenly switched off.

The accident led to a large spill of heptyl, a highly toxic rocket propellant, but there were no reports of casualties or of any immediate threat to nearby settlements.

State-run Rossiya-24 television showed footage of the Proton-M booster rocket veering off course seconds after lift-off. It fell apart in flames in the air and crashed in a ball of fire near the launch pad.

Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying launch-pad personnel were in bunkers when the rocket lifted off.

Russia's space agency Roscosmos said the accident had been caused by the emergency switch-off of the rocket's engines 17 seconds into the flight.

Russia's state-run RIA news agency said the switch-off could have been caused by a problem with the engine or the guidance system. . . .