Rocket and payload crashed in a thinly-populated region of Siberia after a failure occurred shortly after lift-off.

The failure was the result of excessive fuel consumption by the second-stage engine, leading to its destruction, a Russian Space Forces official reportedly said.

Although the investigation seems to have been completed, Molniya-M launches will stay suspended for the time being. This will give investigators time to run tests to ensure the problem was fixed, the official said according to Interfax news agency.

Launch Failures Chronology