BBC. US space rockets grounded
Thursday, May 6, 1999 Published at 06:46 GMT 07:46 UK
Sci/Tech
The second stage engine of the Delta III failed to relight
All United States rockets capable of launching large
satellites are grounded as an investigation begins into a
series of launch failures.
The latest launch to misfire was a
Delta III carrying a communications
satellite. It was an unprecedented
sixth failure in nine months.
Now the US space industry is
carrying out a detailed inquiry to find
reasons for the failures, each of which
costs millions of dollars.
BBC correspondents say some insiders are blaming the
cumulative effect of years of cost-cutting that they say
has degraded the quality and reliability of US rockets.
Stranded cargo
The Delta III rocket launched on Tuesday from Cape
Canaveral was 22 minutes into its flight when the
second-stage engine failed to relight, leaving its cargo
stranded thousands of miles too low.
Mission Director Rich
Murphy said: "Everything had
looked so good. I've really no
idea what happened."
It meant that four out of six
US satellite launches in one
month have failed.
The military Titan IV failed
twice and a satellite was also
lost on a commercial Athena
rocket.
Boeing, which developed the
Delta III, said an investigation team would review data
from the rocket.
The company had been hoping that its new rocket, a
successor to the reliable Delta II, would help it win a
larger piece of the lucrative space launch market,
currently dominated by the French-led Ariane project.
Boeing and Hughes, which made the satellite that was
on the Delta III launch, are also investigating whether the
satellite's mission could be salvaged by using onboard
rocket fuel to push it into its intended 22,300 (35,700km)
orbit.
Boeing had postponed the launch by two days because
the rocket's second stage used a similar engine to that
on a Titan rocket that failed on 30 April.
Two days earlier, an Athena II rocket failed to place a
commercial satellite into its intended polar orbit.
Another Titan mission failed on 9 April when an upper
stage booster failed, leaving a $250m missile-warning
satellite in the wrong orbit.
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