28 July 2006
Crashed Russian rocket found in Kazakhstan

Searchers have found the wreckage of a Russian carrier rocket that crashed shortly after liftoff on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, the Federal Space Agency said on Friday.

The Dnepr rocket carrying a Russian satellite and 17 foreign satellites, including one from Belarus and others from Italy and the United States, crashed shortly after blasting off from the Baikonur cosmodrome late Wednesday.

The wreckage was found 150 km south of the launch pad, a piece of land on Kazakh steppes that Russia leases to launch its spacecraft, agency spokesman Igor Panarin said, quoted by the Interfax news agency. "The rocket caused no environmental or other damage at the crash site," he added.

Experts of a special commission that looks into the crash will examine the crash site on Friday, Panarin said.

The incident has dealt a fresh blow to Russia's space program, which has suffered a series of mishaps since last year. //Xinhua