The failure appeared to have occurred with the rocket’s third stage, which was intended to bring the satellite to an altitude of about 110 miles. At that point, it was supposed to have been propelled by engine boosters into stationary orbit.
Instead, there was a catastrophic failure. The stream of wireless data sent back by the rocket failed about a minute before it was to enter orbit, Russian news agencies reported.
The Interfax agency quoted an unidentified official with Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, as saying there had been an “emergency engine shutdown of the third stage.”
The Proton rocket is the mainstay transporter for International Launch Services, a joint Russian-American satellite carrier business. The satellite, called Centenario, was being sent into orbit on behalf of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transportation and had been manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems.
According to a statement issued by International Launch Services before the launch, it was intended to provide “mobile satellite services to support national security, civil and humanitarian efforts and will provide disaster relief, emergency services, telemedicine, rural education and government agency operations.”
The Proton-M is regarded as a workhorse but has encountered numerous problems in its decades of service. In 2013, a leadership shake-up at Roscosmos was prompted in part by the fourth failed launch of a Proton-M rocket within three years.
Officials said further launches would be suspended until the cause of Saturday’s crash was determined.
Roscosmos recently scuttled an unmanned cargo spacecraft after it malfunctioned on its way to resupply the International Space Station. It fell from orbit over the Pacific Ocean earlier this month and disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere.
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