An upper stage failure aboard a Russian Proton rocket left the Arabsat 4A satellite short of its intended orbit, launch provider International Launch Services (ILS) announced. News agency RIA Novosti reported that the Russian Federal Space Agency “concluded that Arabsat 4 was a lost cause.”

Preliminary flight information on the Feb. 28 launch indicates that the Breeze M upper stage shut down early during its planned burn sequence and as a contingency, the satellite was separated from the booster, ILS said. A Russian State Commission is being formed to determine the reasons for the anomaly and ILS, a U.S.-Russian joint venture that markets commercial launches of the Proton rocket, will form its own review board.

The satellite, manufactured for Arabsat by EADS Astrium, was designed to provide communications services to Arab countries and neighboring regions.