Soyuz-U-PVB | Foton-M No. 1

Launch Provider & Rocket

• Provider: Russian Space Forces (Government)
• Rocket: Soyuz-U-PVB — Soyuz family

Mission

Foton-M No.1 was a mission by the European Space Agency aboard a Russian Soyuz-U rocket that failed to launch successfully. The spacecraft's payload consisted of 44 experiments prepared by the European Space Agency, Fluidpac, BIOPAN-4, Telescience Support Unit, and others. Investigation found that the most likely cause of the failure was debris being ingested into the Blok D hydrogen peroxide pump, cutting off the supply of lubricant to the turbopumps. This was the first failure of an R-7 launch vehicle in the first two minutes of launch since 1988.

• Type: Earth Science
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit (LEO)

Launch Site

• Pad: 43/3 (43L)
• Location: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation
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