Russian Satellite Falls Silent, SSETI Express in 'Safe Mode'

by Tariq Malik, Staff Writer

Date: 28 October 2005 Time: 02:03 PM ET

Europe's Student-Built Satellite Rockets into Space

SSETI Express, a satellite designed and built by European university students, launched on 27 October 2005 at 2:52 EDT from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Russian Cosmos 3M launcher.
CREDIT: ESA.

A Russian satellite launched into space with several other spacecraft Thursday fell silent after failing to separate from its booster properly, according to news reports from Russia.

Russia's Mozhayets-5 satellite reportedly failed to reach its designated orbit after launching into space atop a Kosmos-3M rocket early Thursday, and appears not to have popped free from the booster's final stage, the country's Itar-Tass, Ria Novosti and Interfax news agencies said.

"Attempts have failed so far to assume control over Mozhayets," a source with the Mozhiasky Military Space Academy in St. Petersburg, which commissioned the satellite, told Interfax.

SSETI Express in "safe mode"

Meanwhile, another satellite launched into orbit with Mozhayets-5 - the European Space Agency's (ESA) student-built SSETI Express spacecraft - is in a "safe mode" after reaching its own proper orbit, ESA officials said.

"SSETI Express went into a safe mode due to an undervoltage caused by battery charging problems," the ESA said in a statement.

SSETI Express, short for Student Space Exploration Technology Initiative (SSETI) Express, is Europe's first satellite built primarily by university students. The spacecraft is designed primarily to photograph the Earth and serve as a transponder for amateur radio operators.

ESA officials said the $121,185 (100,000 Euro) SSETI Express spacecraft entered a protective "safe mode" after accomplishing many of its initial objectives, including the deployment of three small, cube-shaped satellites built by universities in Germany, Japan and Norway.

The two-pound (one-kilogram) CubeSats - each four inches (10 centimeters) wide per side - deployed about 64 minutes after launching into space at 2:52 a.m. EDT (0652 GMT) on Oct. 27.

Since then, Japan's XI-V satellite, from the University of Tokyo, and Germany's UWE-1 spacecraft built by the University of W?rzburg have returned strong signals to their respective ground station, ESA officials said. Student's controlling Norway's Ncube2 satellite have not yet heard from their spacecraft, they added.

Meanwhile, SSETI Express' operations team is currently working to resume normal flight operations and has been aided by the amateur radio community, ESA officials said.

Russian spaceflight woes

The Mozhayets-5 glitch follows a series of problems afflicting Russian launchers and satellites this month, including the loss of Europe's Cryosat spacecraft and the Demonstrator spacecraft, an inflatable reentry vehicle that appeared to launch properly but could not be found later by recovery crews.

On Oct. 19, Russia's Federal Space Agency reported that control of its Earth-watching Monitor-E satellite was lost. Later, the launch of Europe's Venus Express probe atop a Russian Soyuz-Fregat rocket was delayed after insulation contamination was detected inside the spacecraft's rocket fairing.

Researchers for Venus Express, which is designed to study Venus' atmosphere for the ESA, are confident it will launch before its flight window closes on Nov. 24, ESA officials have said.