Search Team Recovers Piece from Re-usable Russian Rocket


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	Search Team Recovers Piece from Re-usable Russian Rocket By Anatoly Zak Staff Writer posted: 07:11 pm ET 09 February 2000

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Search teams have recovered one of two inflatable reentry heat shields launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan by a Soyuz/Fregat re-usable rocket late Tuesday, according to a source who asked not be named.

The smaller of the two shields, which carried a satellite mock-up, was found, the source said.

Teams will continue Thursday to search for the larger shield device, which engineers believe also was successfully delivered to Earth by a Fregat upper stage at 2:57 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (10.57 a.m. Moscow time) on Wednesday, a DaimlerChrysler representative said. The search in Russia's Orenburg region in the southern Ural Mountains was suspended for the evening.

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The shields were developed by the Lavochkin Design Bureau in Moscow in cooperation with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG with an eye toward providing the most compact and cheap way possible for returning cargo from orbit.

After five orbits, Fregat reentered Earth's atmosphere and made a soft landing with its heat shields.

The Soyuz/Fregat vehicle also features engines that can be switched on and off in orbit.

Fregat performs nominally

The Fregat upper stage, called an accelerator block, performed flawlessly, including its planned four engine burns, according to Starsem, the company that designed the vehicle.

"Everything went exactly as planned and we are on our way for the second validation test in March," said Laurent Safar, Starsem finance director.

Starsem hopes to use the Fregat in combination with the Soyuz booster for commercial launches this summer for the European Space Agency.

Yuri Karash, special to SPACE.com, contributed to this story.