Briz-M

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The Briz-M, also known as the Proton KM^{[citation needed]}, is a Russian orbit insertion booster stage manufactured by Khrunichev and used with the Proton rocket. Briz-M has storable hypergolic propellants, an improvement over the previous Proton upper booster which used cryogenic propellants.

A Proton with a Briz-M can place a 4,385 kg satellite, such as an A2100AX, into a target orbit with an apogee of 35,786 km, a perigee of 7,030 km, and an inclination of 17.3°.^[1] Total injection time is about 9 hours and 13 minutes.^[2]

Briz-KM upper stages have also been used with Rockot launch vehicles.^[3]

[edit] Launch chronology

1999 July 5	launch failure due to explosion of Proton second stage. Carried a Raduga communication satellite.
2000 June 6	successful launch of a Gorizont communication satellite.
2003 June 6	successful launch of an Americom communication satellite.
2003 December 10	successful launch of four GLONASS positioning satellites.
2006 February 28[4]	launch failure leaves Briz-M and payload in unusable orbit. Carried an Arabsat-4M communication satellite. The booster eventually explodes on February 19 2007, producing over 1000 trackable pieces of space debris.[5][6]
2007 July 7	successful launch of DirecTV-10
14 March 2008	failed during second burn, leaving AMC-14 in useless orbit

[edit] References

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