Report: Molniya-M Rocket On Shelf

Russia has placed a moratorium on launches using the Molniya-M until it completes its investigation into what caused a June 21 launch failure, according to a July 15 report in the online edition of the Khaleej Times. Russia lost a military communications satellite in the launch failure when the second and third stages of the vehicle failed to separate six minutes after liftoff from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.