Russian satellite loses link with ground control

The geostationary military satellite Raduga-1 might have run out of fuel and is not controlled by the flight control centre, Xinhua reported citing Interfax news agency.

The Russian satellite became uncontrollable in space recently and came within three kilometres of a South Korean satellite.

After the incident, the South Korean aerospace institute said it had to modify the orbit of its satellite to avoid a repetition of a possible collision. Currently the distance between the two satellites is about 120 km.

Itar-Tass news agency reported that there was no reason to say the satellite has broken down.

An official said the defence ministry was considering whether to let the Raduga-1 burn up in space or raise it to a "disposal orbit".