Russia delays 2012 military launches after satellite failure
13:56, 4 September 2012
MOSCOW. September 4. KAZINFORM Russia will delay launches of military spacecraft this year because of a failed satellite launch last month, a top defense official said on Tuesday.
The delays will be "insignificant," Russian Space Forces Commander Lt. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko said.
Two telecommunictaions satellites were lost on August 7 due to a failure in the Russian Proton- M rocket's upper stage, Kazinform has learned from RIA Novosti.
Ostapenko said the launches will be put on hold until the findings of a government probe into the incident are fully looked into, as the Briz-M upper stages are also used to hoist military spacecraft into orbit.
Several senior space officials have been sacked over the failure .