Advice For Our Russian Friends

It looks like the second space-launch from the Russian Delta-III RNS Borisoglebsk didn't work out exactly as expected; you may remember the first attempt back in June, when the sub launched the Solar Sail into parts unknown. This most recent event was a test launch of the Demostrator spacecraft, which is designed to carry cargo and passengers from the international space station to Earth. Although it looks like the launch, once again, was successful, they are 2 for 2 in losing comms with the spacecraft after launch. Here's the advice: Maybe you guys might want to hold off on launching missiles into orbit from submarines until you get the buys worked out.

Actually, check that. Seeing that Borisoglebsk successfully launched a regular strategic missile today, I think I'd rather have the Russians launching missiles that don't work. Keep launching them spaceships, boys!

Going deep...

Update 2325 08 Oct: Looks like they can't launch very well with land-based rockets either. The European Space Agency's CryoSat didn't make orbit after being launched from a northern Russian launch facility; as with the Solar Sail, they're blaming the booster rocket:

"The booster unit did not switch on and it resulted in the failure of the satellite to reach orbit," he said. "The remnants of the satellite have fallen into the northern Arctic Ocean."
"According to preliminary information, it was not a failure of the Space Forces, but the malfunction of the apparatus, which failed in bringing the satellite to orbit," ...
..."Engineers lost contact with the Russian rocket and the satellite some two hours after it blasted off from Russia's northern Plesetsk launch facility at about 7:02 p.m. local time, said Franco Bonacina, a spokesman for the European Space Agency.
"He said the satellite was supposed to reach orbit at around 8:30 p.m. -- about 11/2 hours after launch -- but by 8:50 p.m., Russian and European flight controllers had had no contact with it."

Update 0010 09 Oct: I swear I didn't see Lubber's Line's essentially identical post on this topic until after I'd posted mine!