Russian News & Information Agency Novosti reported June 23 that Russia plans to build a new military satellite to replace the one that was lost in the June 22 Molniya-M launch failure. The rocket was launched from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.

According to the report, a Russian Space Agency official is quoted as saying the agency is considering two possible causes for the failure, which occurred about six minutes after liftoff: a malfunction of the third-stage engine or a failure in command during the separation of the second and third stages.