An interruption in electrical power at the Russian launch site in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, caused at least a 24-hour delay in the launch of the Zenit booster and its classified military payload.
Sergei Gorbunov, the press chief at Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviacosmos), said that the Kazakh energy supplier to Baikonur Cosmodrome shut down the electricity due to technical problems.
In the past, Kazakh authorities used the interruptions in the energy supply as a tool to pressure Russia to pay long-delayed rent for the use of Baikonur.
Since the latest disruption occurred during critical tests on the launch pad yesterday, the launch managers are considering returning the launch vehicle back to the assembly building. This is due to concerns about possible technical problems aboard that might have been caused by the mishap, Gorbunov said.
The further decision whether to proceed with the launch after a 24-hour delay, or to remove the vehicle from the pad will be made at the launch managers briefing on Thursday.
Zenit is known for its highly automated processing at the launch pad. Removing the vehicle from the pad would not result in the lengthy delay typical for other types of space boosters. The launch had originally been expected at the end of December.
Whats onboard?
Very much like the US Air Force does not disclose any details on many of its payloads, Rosaviacosmos wont comment on the military satellites launched from the complexes the agency operates. Yet, Western sources speculated that the Tselina spacecraft would be the payload in the upcoming launch.
"Virgin Land" mystery
The Tselina spacecraft, whose name means "virgin land," is a signal intelligence satellite designed to eavesdrop on communication links.
While some Russian sources recently revealed some details about spacecraft history and purpose, its day-to-day operations and design is shrouded in mystery.
Most Russian and Western sources agree that the latest known generation of the spacecraft, known as Tselina 2, have been flying since 1984 in the circular orbits at the altitude 850-880 km.
After two test launches by the Proton booster, Tselina 2 became the common payload for the Zenit launch vehicle, which is able to deliver 10-13 tons into the low Earth orbit, compared to the 18-21 ton payloads for Proton.
The history of Tselina 2
Russian sources say the Tselina 2 system was conceived at the beginning of the 1970s as a further development of the previous generation Tselina-O and Tselina-D spacecraft.
The Tselina 2 system was among other secret military space projects accepted by the Soviet government for development within a five-year program for 1971-1975.
The preliminary design for the Tselina 2 project, outlining general structure of the system, was completed in the first quarter of 1974 and then approved in an inter-agency review.
In May 1974, primary contractors received their production assignments on Tselina 2 spacecraft. Like in the previous generation projects, Ukrainian KB Uzhnoe in Dnepropetrovsk became main developer of the Tselina-2 spacecraft.
According to the development schedule approved by the Soviet government in December 1976, the first test launch of the system was planned for the 1st quarter of 1980 and it was expected to be operational in 1982.
In reality the first test of a Tselina-2 launch could not take place until September 1984. The first truly operational spacecraft was launched at the end of 1988. Only in December 1990 did a secret government resolution declare the Tselina-2 system operational.
Recently, there were numerous reports about the fast depletion of the Russian military space fleet. The last Tselina-2 spacecraft was apparently launched on July 28, 1998 under official name Cosmos 2360.
Two other spacecraft of the series were believed to be in operation at the time. However, according to the authoritative Russian monthly Novosti Kosmonavtiki, (M Tarasenko. Novosti Kosmonavtiki, No. 15/16, 1998, p. 25) as many as four spacecraft were needed for the complete Tselina-2 system. The magazine also reported that the spacecraft could be involved intercepting communications from such hot spots as Yugoslavia and Chechnya.
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