Head of Russia's space agency replaced

MOSCOW, April 29 (UPI) -- Russia announced the replacement of its Roscosmos space agency chief, Anatoly Perminov, who was reprimanded for a failed satellite launch in December.

Russia lost three satellites in the unsuccessful launch when a rocket crashed into the Pacific Ocean, the BBC reported Friday.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin removed Perminov, 65, because he had "reached the age limit for civil servants," a government statement said.

Roscosmos will now be headed by First Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin.

After the failed December launch and the loss of three Glonass-M navigation satellites, President Dmitry Medvedev fired Roscosmos deputy chief Viktor Remishevsky and Vyacheslav Filin, deputy head of the space rocket corporation Energia and reprimanded Perminov.

An investigation found that human error, in the form of a fuel miscalculation, led to the Proton-M rocket failing to achieve orbit and falling into the Pacific.