27 July 2006
Cabinet holds special conference on failed satellite launch

Belarus' Council of Ministers held a special conference on July 27 to discuss the failed launch of the country's first space satellite the previous day.

"There was nothing wrong with the satellite itself. It was OK," Mikhail Myasnikovich, chairman of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences (BNAS), told reporters in Minsk after the conference.

According to official information sources, the BNAS head expressed his regret that the satellite had not been placed into orbit. He also said that in August, a special commission would investigate the reasons for the Dnepr carrier rocket's failure to deliver the satellite to orbit.

"Specific proposals regarding the development of the Belarusian space program were worked out at the just completed Council of Ministers conference by Aleksandr Lukashenko's order," Mr. Myasnikovich said. //BelaPAN