BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan. Aug 19 (Interfax-AVN) - A Russian space rocket industry source has blamed an incorrect flight plan and different malfunctions for Thursday's failure to place the Express-AM4 satellite into its designated orbit and the subsequent loss of contact between it and Earth-based monitoring systems.
"The telemetry received from the Briz-M upper stage yesterday allows us to say with absolute confidence that the upper stage fulfilled the flight task completely - its propulsion engine was switched on in time, the rocket separated from the satellite and performed an avoidance maneuver, but the satellite entered an incorrect orbit for some reason," the source said.
The telemetry confirms an earlier proposed theory suggesting that the accident could have been caused by problems with the control system of the Briz-M upper stage, developed by the Moscow-based Mars experimental design bureau, or the set of command devices produced by a St. Petersburg company, he said.
"A mistake accidentally made in the flight plan cannot be ruled out," the source said.
Specialists are now studying these telemetric data, he said.
"They suspect that problems started after the engine of the upper stage was switched on for the second time," he said.
A Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage and the Express-AM4 satellite blasted off from Baikonur on Thursday. The Briz-M stopped transmitting telemetric data while placing the satellite into orbit.
The probable loss of the Express-AM4 satellite is a "serious blow to the communications sector because the Express-AM4 is a one-of-a-kind advanced satellite with an active service life of 15 years," the Russian Communications and Mass Media Ministry said in a statement.
The Express-AM4 satellite was designed primarily to promote digital television broadcasting.