A Europeanized version of Russia's Soyuz rocket placed two European navigation satellites into the wrong orbit in August because its hydrazine fuel line was installed too close to a supercold helium line on the Fregat upper stage, European government officials said. The installation caused the hydrazine to freeze long enough to upset the Fregat stage's orientation and cause the two satellites' release into an orbit that is both too low and in the wrong inclination, officials said. One official said the Euro-Russian board of inquiry into the failure discovered that one in four Fregat upper stages at prime contractor Moscow-based NPO Lavochkin had the same fuel-line installation.
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