The head of the institute developing a sea-based version of Russia's newest strategic missile has quit following repeated failures of the weapon in testing, officials said Wednesday.

Yury Solomonov, head of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, was the most senior official to date to take responsibility for the string of failures of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, currently in development.

"After the latest unsuccessful launch of the Bulava rocket, Yury Solomonov has submitted a resignation letter," Interfax-AVN, a news agency specializing in military affairs, quoted a source in the country's space industry as saying.

The source said his resignation would most likely be accepted as the Russian space agency Roskosmos believed that the institute that has spearheaded development of the Bulava required changes in its management structure.

The resignation came after the Russian defence ministry confirmed last Thursday that a Bulava missile had exploded after launch from the nuclear-powered submarine Dmitry Donskoy off northern Russia.

The failure of the missile, reportedly the sixth in 11 test-firings, was characterised by defence experts as a serious setback for the Russian military's drive to revamp its Soviet-era missile arsenal.

The Bulava, which can be equipped with up to 10 individually targeted nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles).

It is the sea-based version of the Topol-M, Russia's new surface-to-surface intercontinental missile, and designed to be launched from Moscow's newest Borei class of submarines.

Boris Rumyantsev, one of Solomonov's deputies at the institute, confirmed to AFP that Solomonov had submitted his resignation as general director but denied the move was linked to the repeated failures of the missile.