Russian space official: satellite may not crash for another 5 years

The Russian space agency says it may take up to five years for a Hong Kong satellite, which it failed to launch into proper orbit, to crash back to Earth.

A space agency spokesman said the calculation was made by Russian ballistics experts after studying the trajectory of the telecommunications satellite which a Russian Proton rocket tried unsuccessfully to launch on Thursday.

But the spokesman said Russian experts would be constantly monitoring the satellite and would give a warning well in advance as to when and where precisely it is going to come down.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service