All: Russian L/V upper stage malfunction reported in following article that was posted on Yahoo's G* thread. Anyone know if there's any overlap in h/w between the "Tsiklon-3" and the Zenit L/V?
ANNA DOLGOV Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW (AP) - Six military satellites launched by Russia's Strategic Missile Forces have gone into the wrong orbit but still can be used as planned, officials said today.
The Kosmos satellites were launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome by a Tsiklon-3 booster early Tuesday morning. By Tuesday evening, some
of the satellites were reported to be having trouble finding their proper orbits. Today, officials said all six had gone astray.
The satellites, which the military had identified by the generic Kosmos name, were of the Strela-3 type - a communications system dubbed ''space mailboxes for Russian spies,'' the daily Russky Telegraf reported today, citing army sources.
Strela-3 satellites are used to record radio messages transmitted by Russian intelligence agents worldwide and they relay the messages when flying over Moscow, the report said.
The system was highly classified until Russia's former military intelligence chief, Gen. Col. Fyodor Ladygin, divulged the secret. Russia plans to produce a commercial version of the satellite to earn cash for the underfunded space and military programs, the report said.
The Main Intelligence Department of the Russian Defense Ministry still intends to use the six satellites that have gone into the wrong orbit, but would have to adjust some settings, the Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified military official as saying.
The problem was caused by an incorrect command sent by the booster's accelerating block, the official was quoted as saying.
The Plesetsk cosmodrome, about 300 miles below the Arctic Circle in northwestern Russia, is used mostly for military satellite launches.
Russia also uses the Baikonur cosmodrome, leased from Kazakstan, for international satellite launches and manned space flights. Baikonur is closer to the equator, allowing launches of satellites to higher orbits using less powerful boosters.
Russia's cash-starved space agency has pinned its hopes for survival on commercial satellite launches and other international satellite programs. |
