CHINA Rocket malfunction causes satellite loss

An experimental satellite launched on Thursday failed to enter its designated orbit after its rocket malfunctioned. It was the first launch failure to occur in China since August 1996, when a Long March III launch vehicle proved unable to send Chinasat-7, a communications satellite, into orbit.

The latest failure followed on a string of successes China has seen this year in its attempts to send equipment into space and came before the country's first mission to have a space craft rendezvous and dock with a space module in outer space.

The satellite, SJ-11-04, was launched atop a Long March II-C rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gansu province at 5:28 pm on Thursday. The mission marked the first time that type of rocket had failed.

A report from Xinhua News Agency on Thursday did not say when the rocket first ran into trouble during its flight. Nor did it cite a specific cause of the malfunction, a matter that is now being investigated.

Wang Jiaqi, an academician at the China Academy of Sciences, told Beijing News that the satellite was to be used in scientific experiments.

In the past, three satellites have been sent into orbit for scientific purposes atop the same type of rockets, according to media reports. The first satellite, SJ-11-01, was launched on Nov 12, 2009. Another, SJ-11-03, followed on July 6 and the third, SJ-11-02, on July 29.

It remains unknown what effect the recent failure will have on the possibility of further launches taking place this year.

Former aides want Chavez to resign over charges of corruption and incomptence

Former aides want Chavez to resign

In a daring move, former aides of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have signed a petition asking the populist leader to resign because of gross incompetence.

The former loyalists' statement appeared in the local media, itself a brave move by the remainder of the Venezuelan press that has survived last year's purges and government measures against independently run newspapers, magazines and broadcasters.

It was also the first time that news had reached the outside world of the existence of a dissident group calling itself the Constitutional Axis.

The call for resignation follows weeks of growing public discontent over the shortages of water, power and basic necessities. The government said drought conditions caused by the El Nino phenomenon have drawn down water reservoir levels, but critics accused the government of mishandling that worsened the crisis.

Support for Chavez has dwindled since his much publicized foreign tours in 2009 that preceded major shortages and urban unrest. Critics accused Chavez of neglecting the domestic needs of Venezuela and of wasting resources on lavish foreign tours.