Proton grounded pending inquiry results - Rogozin
MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Proton rocket launches will be suspended until an investigation is completed by an emergency commission set up after the failed launch of a Proton-M on May 16, said Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
"The government is expecting the results of the emergency commission. Proton flights have been suspended until the inquiry is over," he wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday.
The decision was made after a meeting of the directors of the Khrunichev Center manufacturing enterprises in Moscow, Vononezh and Perm, military quality control experts, and representatives from the Defense Ministry, the Federal Space Agency and the United Rocket and Space Corporation, Rogozin said.
"It is obvious that the enterprise is in systemic crisis which led to quality degradation. We will be helping the staff come out of the black streak," the deputy prime minister wrote.
The Proton-M rocket which was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan) in the early hours of Friday ended in failure, losing the Express-AM4R satellite as a result.
The satellite was designed to provide broadcasting, broadband Internet, multimedia and telephony services, and create a VSAT technology network, as well as to provide mobile communications for the president and the government.
