No Signals From Solar Sail Spacecraft Detected – Roskosmos

MOSCOW. June 22 (Interfax) – A spokesman for mission control of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) has denied media reports that signals from the solar sail spacecraft were allegedly detected.

“So far, no signals from the spacecraft have been detected,” the spokesman told Interfax.

The search for the satellite continues, he said.

The spokesman confirmed that a malfunction occurred aboard the Volna rocket carrier on the 83rd second of the first stage’s flight.

“Reports and information we have received from the Navy central command center and the Makeyev design bureau’s operational group indicate that the failure occurred during the active phase of the flight of the Volna rocket carrier’s first stage,” he said.

“Everything proceeded as planned before the 83rd second. The flight stopped after the engines switched off spontaneously on the 83rd second of the flight,” the spokesman said.

“The cause of the accident will be established after a telemetric information analysis,” he said.

The spacecraft was launched from a nuclear submarine of the Dolphin type, or Delta IV by NATO classification, at 11:46 p.m. Moscow time on Tuesday.