Saturday saw the Russian Proton-M rocket, carrying a Mexican telecommunications satellite, crash in eastern Siberia, about 500 seconds after its launch.

The rocket was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:47 AM and was reported to have crashed in the Chita region of Siberia. The expected cause of the crash is a problem believed to have occurred during the rocket’s third stage, when there was an emergency shutdown of the engine, as reported by the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos. This stage was trying to push the satellite to an altitude of 110 miles, before its final placement in the intended stationary orbit.

MexSat-1, or Centenario as it was called, was manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems and was being launched on behalf of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transportation. It being a telecommunication satellite, was aimed at providing mobile satellite services to support national security, disaster relief including civil and humanitarian efforts, emergency services, telemedicine, rural education and government agency operations.

Russia’s Proton-M rocket, which made its first test flights in the mid-1960s, was initially built to act as an intercontinental ballistic missile to carry a nuclear warhead, targeting the Soviet Union's Cold War foe, the US. However, it was never deployed as a nuclear weapon. Thereafter, it became the major transporter for International Launch Services, a joint Russian-American satellite carrier business.

In the last year itself, Proton-M caused the failure of three navigation satellites. Even a 2013 row at Roscosmos is believed to have occurred due to the fourth failed launch of a Proton-M rocket within three years.

The current failure of the rocket is being termed as catastrophic and is, thus, unpardonable. The exact cause of Saturday’s crash is yet to be determined. But, as a precaution, until then, officials have suspended all further launches from similar carrier rocket.