<p>The Glonass satellites were lost Dec 5 when a Proton-M carrier rocket veered off course and crashed in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket was equipped with a DM-3 booster, designed and manufactured by the Energia space corporation.<br /><br />Anatoly Perminov heads Russia's space agency Roscosmos. <br />Medvedev dismissed Energia's chief rocket and space systems designer Vyacheslav Filin and deputy head of Roscosmos Viktor Remishevsky based on a report prepared by a state investigation commission.<br /><br />The commission concluded that Energia experts miscalculated how much fuel was needed for the DM-3 rocket booster. As a result, the amount of oxidant exceeded the norm by 1-1.5 tonnes and excessive weight prevented the Proton-M rocket from putting the satellites into their calculated orbit.<br /><br />In addition, the company's management did not follow all the necessary pre-launch safety procedures and failed to spot the mistake in calculations, the commission reported.<br />The Dec 5 launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket was supposed to conclude the formation of Russia's Glonass navigation system, a project similar to the US-made Global Positioning System.<br /><br />Russia has switched on two reserve Glonass-M satellites in orbit to compensate for the ones that were lost. Roscosmos plans to complete the grouping of 24 operational Glonass satellites by April next year.<br /></p>
<p>The Glonass satellites were lost Dec 5 when a Proton-M carrier rocket veered off course and crashed in the Pacific Ocean. The rocket was equipped with a DM-3 booster, designed and manufactured by the Energia space corporation.<br /><br />Anatoly Perminov heads Russia's space agency Roscosmos. <br />Medvedev dismissed Energia's chief rocket and space systems designer Vyacheslav Filin and deputy head of Roscosmos Viktor Remishevsky based on a report prepared by a state investigation commission.<br /><br />The commission concluded that Energia experts miscalculated how much fuel was needed for the DM-3 rocket booster. As a result, the amount of oxidant exceeded the norm by 1-1.5 tonnes and excessive weight prevented the Proton-M rocket from putting the satellites into their calculated orbit.<br /><br />In addition, the company's management did not follow all the necessary pre-launch safety procedures and failed to spot the mistake in calculations, the commission reported.<br />The Dec 5 launch of the Proton-M carrier rocket was supposed to conclude the formation of Russia's Glonass navigation system, a project similar to the US-made Global Positioning System.<br /><br />Russia has switched on two reserve Glonass-M satellites in orbit to compensate for the ones that were lost. Roscosmos plans to complete the grouping of 24 operational Glonass satellites by April next year.<br /></p>