Launch of Japanese satellite by Russian rocket fails

MOSCOW: The launch of the Japanese telecommunications satellite JCSat 11 from the Russian cosmodrome at Baikonur in Kazakhstan failed on Thursday, the Khrunichev space centre announced, media reports said.

First reports said a technical failure linked with an engine in the Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the satellite took place a few minutes after the launch at 02:43 am Moscow time (0413 IST Wednesday).

As a result, the satellite was not placed in orbit, Khrunichev centre spokesman Alexander Bobrenev was quoted as saying.

"A state commission has been set up to inquire into the causes of the malfunction," he added.

JCSat 11, intended to retransmit television broadcasts, was to have covered Japan, the Asia Pacific region and the Hawaii Island group.