By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian space agency Roscosmos said the Progress M-12M space freighter failed to reach its designated orbit Wednesday due to a rocket engine failure.
A source in the Russian space industry earlier said the spacecraft had sent a breakdown report while separating from the Soyuz-U carrier rocket Wednesday. The Mission Control was unable to receive telemetry data from the spacecraft.
“We received a short telemetry report of a breakdown before the Progress M-12M left the radio coverage zone. That’s all the information we have for the moment, but more data may come an hour after the Progress makes an orbit pass,” the source said.
The Soyuz-U carrier rocket blasted off from the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan and was scheduled to separate at 5.09 p.m. (Moscow time) Wednesday.