spacetoday.net: Manufacturing defect blamed for Dnepr failure

Posted: Mon, Jul 31, 2006, 8:20 AM ET (1220 GMT)
Dnepr launch (Kosmotras)

The crash of a Dnepr rocket carrying 18 satellites last week was likely caused by a manufacturing defect with the rocket, Russian officials said Sunday. The Dnepr failed less than two minutes after liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on July 26, crashing back to Earth. Investigators said that a malfunction with one of the engines about one minute after liftoff caused the rocket to divert from its planned trajectory, and when ground controllers could not put the rocket back on course it was destroyed. The exact nature of the malfunction was not disclosed. The Dnepr is a converted SS-18 ICBM manufactured by Ukraine. Wreckage from the rocket was found 150 kilometers from Baikonur, with the crash site itself contaminated with high levels of the rocket fuel heptyl.