A Russian rocket has failed to place an Arab commercial satellite into its designated orbit, dealing another setback to Russia’s space program.
Russia’s space agency says the Proton rocket delivered the satellite owned by the Saudi ArabSat company to its preliminary orbit Wednesday. But it says the satellite became detached from an upper-stage (Briz-M) rocket before it could reach its final orbiting position.
Officials say experts are still trying to guide the satellite into place using its own engines. Russian authorities have also set up a panel to investigate why the launch failed.
The ArabSat satellite was designed to transmit television programs to Arab countries and neighboring regions.
Russia’s satellite launch industry suffered several failures in October last year, including the loss of a European Space Agency satellite built to study the effects of global warming.
