Russia Has 2 Space Glitches Within Hours

Including the loss of a satellite being blasted into orbit
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 16, 2015 10:21 AM CDT
Russia Has 2 Space Glitches Within Hours
File photo of a Proton-M rocket.   (AP Photo/Space center Yuzhny)

Russia's space agency is having a very bad day. First, one of its spaceships attached to the International Space Station was supposed to fire up its engines and shift the ISS into a higher orbit, but the engines failed to start, reports AP. The cause is unclear, but those aboard the space station aren't in danger. Hours later, Russia tried to blast a Mexican communications satellite into orbit, but the Proton-M rocket carrying it burned up minutes into the flight. As Phys.org notes, the glitches are only the "latest in a string of embarrassing failures" for Russia's Roscosmos space agency, including the loss of a supply ship to the ISS last month. (More Russia stories.)

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