Russian ProtonM rocket crashes erupts in ball of fire

A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three GLONASS navigation satellites crashed soon after takeoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome. Immediately after takeoff, the rocket swerved to one side, tried to correct itself, but instead veered in the opposite direction. It then flew horizontally and started to come apart with its engines in full thrust. Making a huge arch in the air, the rocket plummeted back to earth and exploded on impact close to another launch pad used for Proton commercial launches. The crash was broadcast live across the country and fears of a possible toxic fuel leak immediately surfaced following the incident. While no such leak has been confirmed, the rocket was initially carrying over 600 tons of toxic propellants. There have reportedly been no casualties to surroundings structures and the town of Baikonur was not affected. An accident board headed by Aleksandr Lopatin, deputy head of Russia's space agency Roskosmos, has been created to investigate the crash. The emergency ministry of Kazakhstan has warned that toxic fuel from the rocket could pose an ecological threat to the surrounding area. A cloud of toxic smoke emanating from the burning fuel has led to the evacuation of the area in the immediate vicinity to the crash site. Experts point to engine failure as the likely cause of the crash. "It's either the control system or the engine that has caused the accident. If the accident occurred in the first 10 to 20 seconds, than the engine is likely to be the cause," a source in the space agency told RIA. An Interfax-Kazakhstan source at the cosmodrome said the rocket was out of control from the moment it took off from the launch pad. "In line with its program, once a malfunction was detected, the rocket boosted to take itself away from the launch pad and fell about one kilometer from it," the source said, adding that initial telemetry data suggests that the problem occurred in one of the stability guidance jet engines. There will be no launches from Baikonur for about two-three months, a source in Russia's space industry told RIA Novosti news agency. "There will be no launches of Proton-M rockets while the investigation is underway. In two-three days we will know what exactly happened to the rocket. This is a well-known rocket, and the reason for the crash is the human factor and a production failure," the source said. "We've had similar accidents at Baikonur before. After the area is cleaned up, launches will resume -- in two-three months," the source continued. Igor Marinin, Editor-in-Chief of Russia's Cosmonautics News magazine told RT that there have not been any rocket crashes during the first seconds of flight for at least ten years in the Russian space industry. "This is a phenomenal accident," he said. The Proton-M uses highly toxic heptyl fuel, the expert said, but "it is burning out right now so the consequences will be minor. The major threat is poisonous fumes from the burning fuel and the major task now is to make sure that nobody gets into the heptyl smoke." The crashed Proton-M rocket employed a DM-03 booster, which was being used for the first time since December 2010, when another Proton-M rocket with the same booster failed to deliver yet another three GLONASS satellites into orbit, crashing into the Pacific Ocean some 1,500 kilometers from Honolulu. After the 2010 crash, the investigative commission concluded that technicians miscalculated the amount of fuel needed for the DM-3 rocket booster. Tuesday's incident was the fifth launch of a Proton-M rocket in 2012 and the 388th overall launch of a Proton rocket. The next Proton-M launch is scheduled for July 21, though it will likely be delayed pending an investigation. It is supposed to deliver a commercial ASTRA 2E broadcast satellite for Europe into orbit. GLONASS is a network of Russian navigation satellites designed to ensure global positioning, and is viewed as a direct rival to the American Global Positioning System (GPS). Its worldwide operation requires 24 working satellites. There are currently 28 GLONASS satellites in orbit, 23 of which are in operation, four in reserve and one next generation GLONASS-K satellite undergoing tests.

• 2013-07-02T17:07:25+00:00
• Duration: 00:28

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