The head of the Russian space agency, Yuri Koptev, is going to Kazakhstan to lead investigations into the crash of a proton rocket last week - the second such crash this year.

The first crash led to the Kazakh authorities imposing a ban on Russian launches from their space centre in Baikonur.

The ban was lifted only after Moscow had paid compensation.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says the Kazakh authorities are warning that the compensation bill this time could be much higher than the two-hundred-and-seventy thousand dollars paid by the Russians in July.