[FPSPACE] QuickBird 1 launch failed

[Nolan John R Aerospace]

The first attempt by EarthWatch was also a failure several years ago when
the EarlyBird-1 satellite failed to communicate with the ground after it's
successful launch from Russia.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dwayne Allen Day [mailto:wayneday@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 7:42 AM
To: John.R.Nolan@aero.org
Cc: fpspace@friends-partners.org
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] QuickBird 1 launch failed



On Tue, 21 Nov 2000, Igor Lissov wrote:

> > QuickBird 1 should have been launched from Plesetsk Area 132 by
> > Kosmos-3M launch vehicle November 20 at 22:00 UTC.
> > Intended orbit inclination is 66 deg.
> 
> The launch failed. No confirmation was received of objects at intended
> orbit.  OIG has the following elset:

Does this mean that the rocket failed in flight or that it was never
launched?

If this is a launch failure and the bird was destroyed, that would be the
latest in a number of disasters for the US commercial remote sensing
industry.  Lockheed lost its first Ikonos bird on an Athena out of
Vandenberg, and I think an earlier imaging satellite was lost on a Russian
launch vehicle (START?).



DDAY

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