Russia resumes launch of Proton-M carrier rocket

 　　MOSCOW, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a military spacecraft blasted off early Wednesday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, the first launch since a series setbacks of Russian rocket launch in August.

　　Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin, spokesman of the Russian Space Forces, told reporters that the successful launch took place at 02:47 Moscow time (2247 GMT Tuesday) as scheduled.

　　"The spacecraft is scheduled to separate from the Briz-M booster at 11:48 Moscow time (0748 GMT)," Zolotukhin said.

　　The military spacecraft delivered by the Proton-M belongs to the Russian Defense¹ Ministry².

　　Local reports said the Wednesday launch was originally planned for Aug. 31, but was postponed³ due to an investigation⁴ into a failed launch of a Proton-M rocket carrying an Express-AM4 satellite on Aug. 18.

　　After the failure, Russia decided⁵ to suspend launches of rocket Proton-M pending⁶ the outcome of a probe into the accident.

　　On Aug. 24, a Progress M-12M cargo⁷ ship also failed to reach the orbit due to a rocket malfunction⁸. Russia delayed the launch of next manned spaceship to the International Space Station (ISS).

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

7 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

8 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。