Russian steampunk rocket launches J-satellite

[Taro Toporific]

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JCSAT-11 Satellite Ready For Launch From Baikonur
space-travel.com(SPX) Sep 05, 2007--- The JCSAT-11 communications satellite, designed and built by Lockheed Martin for the JSAT Corporation of Japan, is ready for its scheduled launch on Sept. 6 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome aboard a Proton/Breeze M launch vehicle provided by International Launch Services. JCSAT-11 is a high-power hybrid satellite consisting of 30 active Ku-band transponders and 12 active C-band transponders that will provide coverage to Japan...more...

[Buraku]

It's a simple matter of cost and reliabilty for JSAT Corp, nobody really loves Putin

but Ruskie rockets are effective and cheap...that's why all those rich American tourists fly with the Russians

I think the H-2 rocket (Mitsubishi/Japanese) is about $ 190,000 million for a launch and they had a few recent failures eg the expensive spy satellites that were supposed to spy on N.Korea instead started exploring the depth of the Pacific ocean

[Taro Toporific]

It's a simple matter of cost and reliabilty for JSAT Corp, nobody really loves Putin...
I think the H-2 rocket (Mitsubishi/Japanese) is about $ 190,000 million for a launch and they had a few recent failures eg the expensive spy satellites that were supposed to spy on N.Korea instead started exploring the depth of the Pacific ocean

Oops!
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Russian Proton-M rocket crashes
RussiaToday : September 6, 2007, 8:54
A Russian Proton-M rocket, carrying a Japanese satellite into orbit, has crashed in central Kazakhstan. The accident occurred 135 seconds into the flight during the second stage of separation. Fragments of the rocket fell 50 km to the south-east of the city of Dzhezkazgan...more..

[Greji]

A Russian Proton-M rocket, carrying a Japanese satellite into orbit, has crashed in central Kazakhstan. The accident occurred 135 seconds into the flight

Jeeez, just cause they're carrying a J-payload, doesn't mean they have to copy the Japanese rocket program.

[Blah Pete]

It seems that whatever way the J-Sats are launched they have bad luck and are probably possessed by some demon spirit.
I think they need to try some kind of ceremony ahead of launch where a sacrifice is offered to the sky and rocket gods. A chicken or a goat may be too small for this job.

[American Oyaji]

Ya know what. I thought to myself, watch this one crash too.

This aint bad luck. Some country is sabotaging Japan. Most likely NK.

Russia has ties with NK. This is happening too damn often.

[Greji]

A chicken or a goat may be too small for this job.

Hey, careful with the goats here!

[Charles]

Proton Rocket Crash Prompts Environmental Concerns

MOSCOW (AP) -- An unmanned Russian rocket carrying a Japanese communications satellite malfunctioned after liftoff Thursday, sending parts crashing in an uninhabited part of Kazakhstan and triggering concerns about environmental damage.

Nobody was hurt, but it was a potential blow to Russia's program for commercial satellite launches.

The Proton-M rocket failed to put the JCSAT-11 satellite into orbit because of a problem during operation of the second stage, the U.S.-based American-Russian joint venture International Launch Services said.

The rocket failed 139 seconds after its launch from the Russian-rented Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan, and its second and third stages veered from the planned trajectory at an altitude of 46 miles, said Alexander Vorobyov, a spokesman for the Russian space agency Roskosmos.

Parts of the rocket fell in an uninhabited area about 30 miles southwest of the central Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Vorobyov said.

The rocket was carrying more than 220 tons of fuel, including highly toxic heptyl, Kazakh space agency chief Talgat Musabayev said, expressing concern about possible contamination around the crash site, Kazakhstan's Kazinform news agency reported....more...