First Proton-M launch since accident to take place on August 28
MOSCOW. July 29 (Interfax) - The Khrunichev Space Center resumes launches of Proton-M launch vehicles that were suspended after the failed rocket launch in May, the company's press service has reported.
"The next launch is expected to involve a British telecommunications satellite Inmarsat-5F3. According to the new launch schedule approved by Roscosmos, the launch is scheduled for August 28," the space center reported on its website.
The report states that "the preparations for the Proton-M launches will resume in the next few days" on the Baikonur cosmodrome.
The launches were suspended due to the failed launch of the Proton-M carrying the satellite MexSat-1 on May 16, 2015. An interdepartmental commission was created immediately after the failed launch to investigate the cause of the failure.
The commission came to the conclusion that the crash was caused by "the failure of the third stage's control engine due to increased vibration load caused by an increase in the imbalance of the rotor of the pump unit associated with the deterioration of the properties of its material under the influence of high temperatures and flaws in the balancing system." "The failure was caused by flaws in the construction," the commission said in its decision.
"On the orders of Igor Komarov, the head of Roscosmos, the Khrunichev Space Center has developed and implemented a plan of action to eliminate the causes of the engine failure," the report says.
