GLONASS Accident Report Due On Friday

http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=3D2&nid=3D11045

"15 December 2010

Head of Russia=92s Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov said on
Wednesday official results of the probe into the December 5 failed
launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket, which resulted in the loss of
three GLONASS satellites, would be announced in two days, ITAR-TASS
informs.

'The commission [set up to probe into the loss of the satellites] has
not yet finished its work,' he said. 'Preliminary results it has
arrived at are as follows: an error was made in calculating of rocket
fuel components for the DM booster unit, which resulted in the
overfuelling of the booster unit manufactured by Energia Rocket and
Space Corporation. That is why the orbiting unit failed to reach its
intended orbit.'

According to Perminov, the technical failure might have merged with a
mistake in Energia's documentation. 'The booster=92s chief designer
should have taken this factor into account,' he said. 'I will make
public the commission=92s official results within two days.' "

Something may be lost in translation in the last paragraph.

Meanwhile, they plan to launch another satellite (only one this time)
later this month:

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20101214/161770623.html

"A new-generation Russian Glonass-K satellite was delivered on Tuesday
to the Plesetsk Space Center, where it will be launched later this
month.

The satellite will be sent into orbit atop a modernized Soyuz-2.1.b
rocket equipped with a new booster, the Fregat."

http://www.roscosmos.ru/main.php?id=3D2&nid=3D11041