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Zenit booster rocket accident occurred through Ukraine's fault - official

The Russian equipment was not blamed

LYTKARINO /Moscow region/, February 26 (Itar-Tass) - The Zenit booster rocket accident occurred through Ukraine’s fault, First Deputy Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission under the Russian government Ivan Kharchenko told reporters on Tuesday, in comments on the failure within the Sea Launch international project on February 1.

"The report was presented by Dmitry Rogozin /to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev/," Kharchenko said, adding that "the accident occurred because of the failure of the unit manufactured in Ukraine. The Russian equipment was not blamed."

Kharchenko explained that the report to the prime minister had been submitted on February 15.

The Zenit-3SL booster carrying Intelsat-27 sank in the Pacific Ocean in the morning of February 1. Earner reports said the accident might have been caused by automatic shutdown of the first stage engine because of a flight path error immediately after the launch.

Aerospace officials said the pre-flight check was successful and that all systems and environmental conditions were within norm.