[Eight failures--all of them Russian missions. Eight successes--all of them were American or ISS (International Space Station)-related. The fact that Russia has had a higher success rate in launching American spacecraft than it has had in launching its own craft has to be more than obvious to the Kremlin. The odds against this are astronomical. It is impossible to write this off as "coincidence." It demonstrates what an ultra-fine line that American spy bosses are walking in the dangerous game of brinksmanship that they are playing with Russian leaders. If the deadly string of Russian airplane crashes over the past year (culminating in the Sukhoi Superjet -100 crash, on May 9th) was also tallied-up, you would have a list which would hold up in court. On at least two occasions (three times, counting Superjet), Russian officials have suggested that the United States may have had a hand in sabotaging some of them. The real danger starts whenever Putin and associates finally make their suspicions official.]
Russia says foreign power may have caused spy satellite loss–wrong orbit–Feb 1, 2011
Proton Places $300M Russian Telecom Satellite in Bad Orbit–19 August, 2011
Russian Space Station Cargo Ship Crashes in Failed Rocket Launch–24 August 2011
Russian space ship fails to reach orbit–September 24, 2011
U.S.-Russian Crew Blasts Off for Space Station–November 14, 2011
Failed Russian space mission shows difficulty of exploring Mars …Nov. 9, 2011
New Crew Launches on Russian Soyuz Rocket to International …–Dec 21, 2011
Russian Satellite Crashes in Latest Failed Rocket Launch–23 December 2011–making it the fifth failed space mission for Russia in 2011.
Russia Hints US May Be Behind Recent Satellite Failures–Jan 10, 2012
Nov. 9, 2011 rocket failure leads to Phobos-Grunt Probe falls into sea–January 15, 2012
Russia Launches Robot Cargo Ship to Space Station–25 January 2012
Russians successfully launch space station resupply ship–April 20, 2012
S0yuz Rocket Launch: U.S., Russian Crew Blast Off For International Space Station–May 15, 2012
Russia Launches U.S. Satellite from Floating Pad– 2012-06-01
Russian booster rocket fails to put 2 communications satellite in orbit …Jul 8, 2012
Russian Soyuz rocket launches American, Russian, Japanese to space station–Jul 15th 2012
Russian Proton Rocket Fails During 2-Satellite Launch–07 August 2012
Russian Booster Rocket Lifts U.S. Satellite in Seaborne Launch
Odyssey mobile spacecraft launch platform. Files
MOSCOW REGION, August 19 (RIA Novosti)
A Russian booster rocket has blasted off from the Odyssey launch pad in the Pacific Ocean as part of the Sea Launch project to deliver a U.S. satellite into orbit, a spokesman for Energiya space corporation said on Sunday.
“The launch took place at 10:55 a.m. Moscow time [06:55 GMT]. The designated time for the spacecraft’s separation from the DM-SL acceleration unit is 11:25 a.m. Moscow time [07:25 GMT],” the spokesman said.
Odyssey, positioned on the equator, is a converted oil rig operated by the Swiss-based rocket company Sea Launch.
The initial launch of the spacecraft was scheduled for August 15 but it was postponed several times due to various reasons.
The 5,980 kilogram Intelsat 21 is a geostationary communications satellite built by Space Systems Loral to provide telecoms services to high-growth markets around the Pacific Rim, including Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and U.S. West Coast.
