http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070313/ukraine_sea_launch_failure.html?.v=1&printer=1
Ukrainian Firm Says Explosion of Sea Launch Rocket in January Caused by Stray Metal Fragment
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The explosion of a rocket launched from an oceangoing platform in January was caused by a stray metal fragment that entered a pump in the rocket's engine, a Ukrainian firm involved in the Sea Launch project said Tuesday.
The Zenit-3SL rocket exploded during lift off on Jan. 30 in the equatorial Pacific while attempting to launch a commercial communications satellite built by Boeing Co. for Netherlands-based SES New Skies.
No one was injured, but the launch platform suffered some damage.
Ukraine's rocket construction bureau Yuzhnoye said in a statement that the failure occurred in the engine "after an extraneous metal particle accidentally entered the oxidant pump."
Yuzhnoye said the commission set up to investigate the Sea Launch accident made suggestions that would allow for the continued use of the Zenit-3SL rockets.
Sea Launch is owned by Boeing, RSC-Energia of Moscow, Kvaerner ASA of Oslo, Norway, and Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. The system has made 23 previous launches since its first in 1999.
The Zenit-3SL has three stages, all fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen. It is about 200 feet tall and 14 feet in diameter at its widest.
Ukrainian Firm Says Explosion of Sea Launch Rocket in January Caused by Stray Metal Fragment
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- The explosion of a rocket launched from an oceangoing platform in January was caused by a stray metal fragment that entered a pump in the rocket's engine, a Ukrainian firm involved in the Sea Launch project said Tuesday.
The Zenit-3SL rocket exploded during lift off on Jan. 30 in the equatorial Pacific while attempting to launch a commercial communications satellite built by Boeing Co. for Netherlands-based SES New Skies.
No one was injured, but the launch platform suffered some damage.
Ukraine's rocket construction bureau Yuzhnoye said in a statement that the failure occurred in the engine "after an extraneous metal particle accidentally entered the oxidant pump."
Yuzhnoye said the commission set up to investigate the Sea Launch accident made suggestions that would allow for the continued use of the Zenit-3SL rockets.
Sea Launch is owned by Boeing, RSC-Energia of Moscow, Kvaerner ASA of Oslo, Norway, and Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. The system has made 23 previous launches since its first in 1999.
The Zenit-3SL has three stages, all fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen. It is about 200 feet tall and 14 feet in diameter at its widest.
