Russian rocket fails to take US satellite into planned orbit

[lovuian]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080315/sc_afp/russiausspacetechnologysatellite_080315114610

MOSCOW (AFP) - A Russian rocket launched a communications satellite produced by US defence company Lockheed Martin into space on Saturday but failed to take it into the planned orbit, Russian space officials said.
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"The engine of the Briz-M booster failed to work for the whole of the scheduled time and the satellite could not be taken to the planned orbit," the Khrunichev space centre, which carried out the launch, said in a statement.

The satellite "can be controlled but is in an orbit of 28,000 kilometres instead of the planned 36,000 kilometres" above the Earth, Russian space agency Roskosmos said in a later statement.

Roskosmos said an inquiry had begun into the malfunctioning of the launch.
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Not to say that the Russians sabotaged it but the way the Russians are ticked off at us
I wouldn't be surprised

in the orbit it is in the satellite is useless
they will need to use engines on the satellite for higher orbit
and the Russians just smile