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Russia's biggest “space wars” rocket launch in decades failed and may send 20 tonnes of payload screaming back to Earth, it has been claimed. The new generation Angara A-5 heavy carrier rocket malfunctioned and only made it to “low orbit,” leaving it short of its target and set to fall back to Earth. Although only a mock-up satellite it was crucial to Russia as a new military weapons delivery system and most of it is likely to burn-up on re-entering the atmosphere. Footage showed the spectacular unmanned launch from Plesetsk spaceport on Monday marking a new stage in Moscow’s space...

Iran has failed another attempt at launching a satellite into space. Iran attempted to launch a domestically-built "Zafar" satellite into space, but the rocket did not gain enough speed to reach orbit, according to reports. News of the failure broke on Sunday, two weeks after satellite imagery showed increased activity around Iran’s Imam Khomeini Space Center.

A Russian rocket exploded in a massive fireball late Monday, destroying three navigation satellites after a failed launch that appeared to veer out of control shortly after liftoff and crash back to Earth. ... Russia's Proton rockets have suffered five major launch failures since December 2010. The most recent failure was in December 2012, when a Proton rocket launched a telecommunications satellite into the wrong orbit.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea has moved its most advanced long-range missile to a new launch site and has banned ships from the waters off its west coast through the end of July, news reports said Monday, moves that threaten to exacerbate tensions on the peninsula. The missile, which has arrived at the Dongchang-ni launch site on the northwest coast, is believed to be a version of the Taepodong-2 rocket that the North fired on April 5 saying it was a satellite launch, the South Korean Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported. The North could fire the missile as early as...