The European Space Agency (ESA) focused on the Cryosat project for five years but ultimately faced failure. The cause was identified and announced yesterday.
The European Space Agency, after reviewing the accident investigation report from Russia, stated that a software error in the upper stage of the rocket launched on October 8 led to the climate research satellite Cryosat falling into the sea.
Accordingly, the rocket’s flight control system was unable to issue the necessary commands to shut down the engine during the second stage. Thus, when it reached the third stage, the rocket could not detach from the satellite, resulting in an explosion.
With several measures proposed, the Russian space agency aims to prevent similar software errors in the future.
The Cryosat project was developed over five years at a cost of approximately 135 million Euros. The Cryosat satellite was intended to be launched into space to collect data on global climate change. ESA hopes to launch a new satellite for climate research by 2008.
According to Reuters
