Putin urges punishment for officials responsible for failed Russian space launch
MOSCOW - Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev says this week's failed space launch has dented the nation's prestige and those to blame must be held responsible.
A Proton booster rocket launched Monday failed to place two communications satellites into target orbits, a mishap that followed several other botched launches. An official investigation is under way.
Medvedev said Thursday the failure could have been caused by "sloppiness." He says he will chair a government meeting next week to look into the case and name those responsible for the failure.
Russia's space program has suffered a series of humiliating failures blamed on manufacturing flaws and engineering mistakes. They included the loss of a robotic probe designed to study a moon of Mars that was launched in November and eventually came crashing down in January.
