RUSSIA LOSES THREE SATELLITES
Three satellites were lost when a Russian launch vehicle fell in the Sea
of Okhotsk on Mar 28. The five-stage Start launch vehicle, which took
off from Plesetsk, is based on the Nadiradze bureau's three stage Topol'
ballistic missile. A four stage Start-1 variant successfully placed a
test satellite in orbit in Mar 1993. This time, although the basic four
stages worked fine, the new fifth stage failed and the payloads did not
reach orbit.
The two commercial payloads on the Start were Gurwin-1 and UNAMSAT.
The Start also carried a prototype satellite, the EKA
(Eksperimental'niy Kosmicheskiy Apparat). Gurwin-1, also known as
Techsat, was built by the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel.
The 50 kg satellite carried a CCD camera, a radiation detector,
an ozone monitor, and an amateur radio packet BBS as well as satellite
technology tests. UNAMSAT was an AMSAT Microsat class amateur radio
satellite built by UNAM, the Autonomous University of Mexico.
REPRINTED FROM JONATHAN'S SPACE REPORT, NO. 236, 4 APRIL 1995.
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- T o d d E. V a n H o o s e a r -
``'''vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu - vanhoose@msu.edu - vanhoose@lalaland.cl.msu.edu
(._.) Michigan State University - East Lansing, MI USA
(_) Computer Laboratory - Department of Communication
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