| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russian Bid to Launch 18 Satellites Fails... Boom! |
| 2006-07-27 |
| A Russian rocket that was to put 18 satellites in orbit crashed shortly after liftoff early Thursday, the Interfax news agency reported. The Dnepr rocket crashed about 15 miles south of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan but caused no injuries or damage on the ground, Interfax quoted Russian space agency deputy chief Yuri Nosenko as saying. The rocket was carrying a Russian satellite and 17 from other countries, including the United States and Italy, Russian news agencies reported. Interfax, citing an unidentified Mission Control official, reported preliminary information indicated a problem occurred when the rocket's third stage detached. RIA-Novosti and ITAR-Tass, also citing unnamed officials, said the engine shut off 86 seconds into the flight. Russia's space program has recently suffered several embarrassing failures, jeopardizing its hopes of earning more revenue from commercial launches of foreign satellites. The launch of a rocket carrying a European weather satellite was postponed indefinitely last week because of a problem discovered minutes before liftoff. |
| Posted by:Hupomoter Thraith3092 |
| #4 The space war has never ended. It was jus a wet dream by liberals. Here's wishing the Russkies many more embarrassments. |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-07-27 17:17 |
| #3 Youse gets whatcha pay for. |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-07-27 13:21 |
| #2 The Dnepr is a launch vehicle derivative of the R-36 (SS-18) ICBM. |
| Posted by: Mike 2006-07-27 11:27 |
| #1 That sucks. Russian commercial satellite delivery was looking like a real bright spot for space systems. Maybe we should build the first space elevator in Russia. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2006-07-27 09:47 |