Ananova:

The head of Russia's space agency say an explosion which brought down a rocket just after launch may have been malicious.

One soldier died and a multi-million pound scientific satellite was lost during the incident earlier this month.

Yuri Koptev said the explosion was caused by an unidentified object in the fuel line.

He said investigators are considering "malicious intent" among other possibilities.

The Soyuz-U rocket blew up within seconds of liftoff October 15 from the northern Plesetsk launch pad.

It was carrying a Foton-M satellite containing scientific experiments from several countries, including Russia and the US.

One soldier was killed and several others injured by a powerful shock wave that swept the launch pad after the burning rocket's debris crashed to the ground and exploded.

Russian Space Agency chief Yuri Koptev reportedly said a foreign object had obstructed a hydrogen peroxide pipe in one of the rocket's engines.

Story filed: 16:35 Monday 28th October 2002

-- Anonymous, October 28, 2002