- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Loss of MexSat-1 Satellite Not to Hinder Russian-Mexican Space Cooperation

© REUTERS / RoscosmosA Proton-M carrier rocket blasts off with the MexSat-1 communications satellite at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Proton-M carrier rocket blasts off with the MexSat-1 communications satellite at Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Mexico is ready for space and hi-tech cooperation with Russia despite an unsuccessful launch of the Russian Proton-M carrier rocket in 2015.

Satellite center of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in Bangalore, India. File photo - Sputnik International
Asia
Indian Space Organisation Ensures Protection of Satellites From Space Debris
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Mexico is ready for strengthening space and hi-tech cooperation with Russia despite an unsuccessful launch of the Russian Proton-M carrier rocket in 2015, which led to the incineration of Mexico's MexSat-1 communications satellite, Mexican Ambassador in Moscow Norma Bertha Pensado Moreno told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"[Mexico] is interested in further strengthening of [bilateral] relations, especially in the areas related to high technology, where both Mexican and Russian scientists have opportunities for cooperation," Moreno said, stressing that technical malfunctions could occur at any time and were not an obstacle to cooperation.

On May 16, 2015, Proton-M launch vehicle, its Breeze-M booster and MexSat-1 satellite lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome but the engine shut off abruptly 498 seconds after the launch and 60 seconds before the satellite’s separation from the rocket. The third stage, the booster and the spacecraft were incinerated during reentry. The accident was attributed to the malfunctioning of the third-stage's steering engine, which had been affected by excessive vibrations caused by substantial heat. A defective rotor in a turbine-pump unit was named the main "culprit" in the incident.

The Proton-M is the largest carrier rocket in Russia's fleet of space launch vehicles. The rocket has lifted dozens of Russian and foreign satellites into orbit since it was first commissioned into service in 2001. On June 27, Russia's Roscosmos State Space Corporation press service said that the first launch of the new modification of the Proton-M carrier rocket would be conducted in 2019.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала