Russian rocket Zenith-3SL falls down in Pacific over engine failure
14:12, 1 February 2013
MOSCOW. February 1. KAZINFORM An accident occurred in the launch of the rocket Zenith-3SL with the satellite Intelsat-27 from a floating platform in the Pacific. The communication contact with the rocket is lost, the telemetric data is not coming.
"The engine failed in the rocket," a source in the aerospace industry informed.
The source reported that Zenith-3SL fell down not far from the floating platform Odyssey, from which the rocket was launched. Other details are unclear yet, Kazinform has learnt from Itar-Tass.
The launch vehicle Zenith-3SL consists of the rocket Zenith-2, which the Ukrainian design bureau Yuzhmash based in Dnepropetrovsk produced, and the upper stage rocket DM produced by the Russian aerospace corporation Energia.
The launch control centre of the rocket operates remotely and is deployed onboard the ship, which is situated in the Pacific six kilometres away from the floating platform.