COSMOS 1 Solar Sail Test Flight
Update - July 21, 2001

The Cosmos 1 test spacecraft was successfully launched Friday from a submerged Russian submarine, but the final command to separate the spacecraft from the rocket was not executed. As a result, neither the solar sail deployment test nor the re-entry capsule inflation sequence that were planned for this sub-orbital test flight were carried out. The spacecraft and the unseparated capsule continued together to impact in Kamchatka.

Telemetry from the launch vehicle indicated the separation failure. The Makeev Rocket Design Bureau engineers are analyzing the data to determine exactly what happened and why.

The capsule recovery team stationed in Kamchatka, which includes representatives from the Babakin Space Center, the Institute for Space Research (IKI) and Makeev, is reported to have observed the re-entry. Makeev is now responsible for locating the probably destroyed capsule and spacecraft in Kamchatka.

A very preliminary examination of the rocket telemetry data in Russia indicates that the separation command was terminated by an on-board fail-safe program because dynamic variations were sensed in the third stage. The launch vehicle was pre-programmed to override the separation command in the presence of dynamic variation. These variations would not have affected the Cosmos 1 test spacecraft performance or its recovery. This possibility is being examined further.

Earlier today Project Director Louis Friedman of The Planetary Society met in Moscow with project personnel from Babakin Space Center and the Space Research Institute to assess the situation.

Planetary Society President Bruce Murray noted that this suborbital test fulfilled important technological and program objectives, such as:

1. Preflight testing and integration of a new solar sail spacecraft by the Babakin Space Center and the Makeev Rocket Bureau,

2. Integration and launch of that spacecraft by the Russian Navy using the Volna launch vehicle,

3. Integrated tracking and analysis by various Russian organizations including IKI, Babakin and the Russian Navy,

4. Effective participation and overview by The Planetary Society and its project sponsor, Cosmos Studios.

"I am quite impressed with how well the US - Russian team, involving non-profit and commercial organizations, and relying heavily on Russian military and civilian organizational support, worked together effectively and harmoniously in this test, " said Bruce Murray, President of The Planetary Society. "I am optimistic that we can keep on schedule to launch Cosmos 1, the first solar sail spacecraft, later this year."