Translated material
The destruction of the third stage "Proton-M" occurred at an altitude of 160 km
The destruction of the third stage of the Proton-M launch vehicle, in which an emergency occurred after the start, at an altitude of 160 km at a flight speed of 7 km/s. This was reported by ITAR-TASS in the press service of Roscosmos.
All components of the launch vehicle, as well as the components of the fuel burned in the dense layers of the atmosphere.
The emergency situation with the Proton-M launch vehicle occurred on May 16 just a few minutes after the start. The rocket launched at 01:42 Moscow time with Baikonur with the spacecraft “Express-AM4R” on board burned in dense atmosphere. The head block as part of the Breez-M accelerated unit and the Express-AM4R spacecraft did not have time to separate from the rocket and was not taken to orbit.
According to preliminary data, the cause of the abnormal situation could be a drop in pressure in one of the steering engines of the third stage of the launch vehicle. At the time of the accident, the rocket flew over China. It is reported that no fragments of Proton-M, as well as the acceleration block and satellite reached the ground .