14 DAY TRIAL // Following the unsuccessful launch of another satellite late last year, the Russians have reportedly suffered a new failure in launching an advanced military satellites. The spacecraft made it to orbit, but then shortly after mission controllers lost all contact with the asset.
The launch took place on February 1, 2011. According to reports circulating online and in the Russian media, Mission Control was no longer able to contact the satellite a few hours after the launch.
The Itar-Tass and Interfax news agencies report that the spacecraft was only operational for two hours, after launching at around 5 pm Moscow Time (9 am EST, 1400 GMT), from the northern Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
Geo-IK-2, the new military asset, was launched atop a three-stage Rockot delivery system, which is in effect a modified version of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).
According to official and unofficial sources, the new Earth-observing instrument was supposed to keep an eye on terrain in regions where the Russian military operates. It was also to build 3D maps of those regions, and then relay them to ground troops.
The Interfax-AVN news service quotes an unnamed Russian space industry source as saying that “there is no contact with the satellite.” Officially, the government has yet to make any statements on the issue.
Agence France-Press was able to find out that the new military satellite was headed for a 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) circular polar orbit, which is where all spy satellites are inserted.
The news agency also found that the final orbit of the spacecraft may in fact be considerably lower than initially planned. Geo-IK-2 could be flying at an altitude as low as 205 miles (330 kilometers).
Interfax reports that the Defense Ministry has already begun work on putting together a commission that will investigate the circumstances of the malfunction. Representatives from the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) will also be a part of the group.
A little more than a month ago, on December 5, 2010, three brand-new Glonass-M navigation satellites were lost when a Proton rocket Block DM-3 upper stage was loaded with too much fuel.
The entire delivery system veered off course, and the satellites – which were supposed to form the backbone of the Russian Glonass satellite navigation system – now lie on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
RosCosmos Chief Anatoly Perminov was reprimanded for this failure, whereas two other top-ranking space officials were relieved of their duties, Space reports.