Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SPACEWAR
Russia says foreign power may have caused spy satellite loss
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Feb 14, 2011


The Russian space agency suggested Monday that a foreign power may have been behind the space accident that disabled one of the country's most modern military satellites earlier this month.

Russia on February 1 launched a high-tech Geo-IK-2 craft to help the military draw a three-dimensional map of the Earth and locate the precise positions of various targets.

News reports said the satellite was a vital part of Russia's effort to match the United States and NATO's ability to target its missiles from space.

But the craft briefly went missing after its launch only to re-emerge in a wrong orbit that left the craft unable to complete its assigned task.

The Russian military and space agency set up a joint task force to probe the accident but it has presented no official results thus far.

One unnamed space official told Interfax however that initial evidence suggested that the craft went off target after one of its booster rockets inexplicably reversed course.

"The probable cause may involve electromagnetic intrusion on the automatic controls," the unnamed space official said.

The official did not identify the country he suspected of trying to derail the Russian military mission. But Moscow frequently accuses Washington of attempting to "militarise" space.

The space official conceded that there may have been other reasons for the launch failure. These included the wrong operations being programmed into the guidance system and other software mistakes.

But the Russian source stressed that the accident occurred between the first and second burns of the Briz-KM upper-stage booster rocket -- an area in which the craft makes no contact with ground control.

The official suggested that the electromagnetic pulse may have been aimed at the Russian craft "from a land, sea, air or space vehicle."

The Geo-IK-2 mishap came less than five weeks after President Dmitry Medvedev fired two top space officials for a launch failure caused Russia to delay the deployment of its own navigation system.

Investigators said that accident was caused by a basic fuel miscalculation that made the craft too heavy to reach its required height.

The three Glonass satellites would have completed a system whose research had been started by the Soviet Union in 1976.

.


Related Links
Military Space News at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








SPACEWAR
Boeing To Study Commercial Space Capabilities For Military Use
El Segundo CA (SPX) Feb 11, 2011
Boeing has received a $900,000 study contract from the Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Systems Directorate of the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Under the agreement, Boeing will explore ways to modify existing commercial satellite capabilities to meet MILSATCOM needs. Boeing will focus on communications-on-the-move missions as well as connectivity for low-al ... read more


SPACEWAR
Astrobotic Technology Annouces Lunar Mission On SpaceX Falcon 9

LRO Could Have Given Apollo 14 Crew Another Majestic View

NASA's New Lander Prototype Skates Through Integration And Testing

Draper Commits One Million Dollars To Next Giant Leap's Moon Lander

SPACEWAR
Volunteers begin virtual Mars 'space walk'

Experiment volunteers 'walk on Mars'

Mars 500: Landing On The Simulated Red Planet

Experiment volunteers 'to land on Mars'

SPACEWAR
Obama: Five-year freeze on NASA budget

Powerful New Ways To Electronically Mine Research May Lead To Scientific Breakthrough

Lockheed Martin Ships Out First Orion Spacecraft

LightSail-1 On NASA Short List For Upcoming Launch

SPACEWAR
U.S. wary of China space weapons

Slow progress in U.S.-China space efforts

China Builds Theme Park In Spaceport

Tiangong Space Station Plans Progessing

SPACEWAR
Astro_Paolo And Views From Space

Cosmonauts To Perform 28th Russian Space Station Spacewalk

Azorean Station To Track Ariane Launch

International Partners Discuss ISS Operations

SPACEWAR
Vandenberg Launches Minotaur One

Activities At Esrange Space Center 2011

Russia Plans To Build Carrier Rocket For Mars Missions

First Delta IV Heavy Launches From Vandenberg

SPACEWAR
NASA Finds Earth-Size Planet Candidates In Habitable Zone

Las Cumbres Scientists Play Key Role In New Planetry System Discovery

A Six-Planet System

Earth-Size Planet Candidates Found In Habitable Zone

SPACEWAR
HTC launches social smartphones with Facebook

Orange launches low-cost branded tablet

Tech therapy for smartphone-stressed mobile operators

NASA's NPP Satellite Undergoing Flight Environmental Testing




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement