crashing in Kazakhstan

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying a Japanese communications satellite malfunctioned after liftoff Thursday, sending parts crashing in an uninhabited part of Kazakhstan, according to a recent Associated Press report.

The Proton-M rocket failed to put the JCSAT-11 satellite into orbit because of a problem during operation of the second stage, acoording to the U.S.-based American-Russian joint venture International Launch Services.

The rocket failed 139 seconds after its launch from the Russian-rented Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan, and its second and third stages veered from the planned trajectory at an altitude of 46 miles, said Alexander Vorobyov, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roskosmos.

Parts of the rocket fell in an uninhabited area about 30 miles southwest of the central Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Vorobyov said.

The rocket was carrying more than 220 tons of fuel, including highly toxic heptyl, Kazakh space agency chief Talgat Musabayev said, expressing concern about possible contamination around the crash site, Kazakhstan’s Kazinform news agency reported.
Deputy environment minister Zeynulla Sarsembayev said there had been six “serious situations’’ involving failed launches from Baikonur since 1996 and warned that Kazakhstan would tighten environmental safety requirements for launches, the Kazakhstan Today news agency reported on its Web site.

Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Kazakhstan would be fully compensated for environmental damage under existing agreements, according to Russian news agencies.

Under an agreement with Kazakhstan, launches of Proton rockets from Baikonur were automatically suspended until the cause of the crash is determined, Vorobyov said.