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 Würzburg 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.
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