Posted: Sat, Oct 8, 2005, 9:42 PM ET (0142 GMT)
A European earth sciences satellite was lost Saturday because of a malfunction with its Rockot launcher. The Rockot lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 11:02 am EDT (1502 GMT) Saturday carrying the CryoSat satellite. The launch initially looked nominal, but ground controllers could not establish contact with the satellite in its intended orbit. Officials said they later determined that while the first stage operated as planned, a missing command prevented the second stage from shutting down as intended. As a result, the stage continued to fire until it exhausted its propellant, which also prevented the third stage and satellite from separating. In a statement, ESA said that it believes the satellite and the rocket's upper stages fell into Arctic Ocean north of Greenland. The $160-million CryoSat was intended to measure the degree of loss of ice in the polar regions. The failure is the first for the Rockot, a converted SS-19 ICBM marketed by Eurockot, a German-Russian joint venture.

Related Links:

•  Spaceflight Now article
•  BBC article
•  The Guardian article
•  AP article
•  ESA press release