Rocket and satellite fragments found
23/06/2005 15:25 MOSCOW, June 23 (RIA Novosti) - Fragments from the
Molnya-M carrier rocket carrying a military telecommunications satellite
that crashed Tuesday after being launched from Plesetsk have been found
in Siberia's Tyumen region, the Russian Space Corps press service said
Thursday.
The main structural elements of the Molnya-M and the satellite burnt up
in the atmosphere.
The launch failure did not ensue in a financial setback because all
rocket launches are insured, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told a news
conference.
"Therefore, we could not suffer any financial damages," he said. "On the
other hand, we will have to build a new satellite to replace the one
lost with the carrier rocket."
Experts are still looking into the causes of the Molnya-M's failure.
"The two possible causes of the incident could either be the malfunction
of the third-stage engine or a failure in command during the separation
of the third and the second stages," head of the Russian Space Agency
(Roscosmos) Anatoly Perminov reported earlier.
According to Perminov, the carrier rocket was manufactured last year. It
showed signs of malfunction 298 seconds into the flight.
"We are positive that the rocket crashed in an area designated for the
fall of spent rocket stages," he said.
There was not threat to the environment near the crash zone since the
rocket uses kerosene and liquid oxygen, which are environmentally clean
fuel components, Perminov said.
A special joint investigation committee consisting of Roscosmos and
Space Corps representatives has been formed, he said.
--
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