The Russian space agency has conceded its out-of-control cargo spacecraft will not be able to dock with the International Space Station.
Roscosmos admitted the Progress 59 freighter’s failed mission will cost 2.59 billion roubles (£32.8 million), a spokesman for the agency said.
Igor Komarov, head of Roscosmos, listed a series of problems that had made the vessel tumble out of control since early on Tuesday, Reuters reported. He said:
Because of this, the craft’s continued flight and its docking with the ISS is not possible.
Here’s what else we learned throughout the day:
Progress 59 launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday without issue
The spacecraft is 7m long and holds 2.5 tonnes of food, water, fuel and other supplies
The vessel malfunctioned soon after it reached orbit on Tuesday and went into an uncontrolled spin.
It is rotating at a rate of 360 degrees every five seconds
The spacecraft is travelling at more than 16,000 miles per hour.
The vessel is 160 miles above the Earth.
It could take up to two weeks for Progress 59 to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, at which point it is expected to break up.
You can follow Progress 59 using satellite tracking websites Satflare and N2YO.
Igor Komarov, head of Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, says they are now considering different options for a “water landing”.
My colleagues Ian Sample and Shaun Walker have filed this report.
In light of information that Progress 59 could be orbiting the Earth for up to two weeks, we have decided to close the live blog. I’ll leave you with this clip from Alfonso Cuaron’s Oscar-winning thriller Gravity to serve as a reminder that the spacecraft was thankfully unmanned.
Astronauts Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, current crew members on board the International Space Station, have said flight controllers have given up trying to command the out-of-control cargo carrier.
Kelly told the Associated Press that the craft will fall out of orbit and re-enter the atmosphere sometime soon. He said:
We should be OK.The program plans for these kinds of things to happen. They’re very unfortunate when they do. The important thing is hardware can be replaced.
Kornienko called it “a big concern.” But he expressed “100 percent confidence” that operations will continue as planned until the next shipment arrives.
Russian space agency working on "water landing" for plunging spacecraft
Shaun Walker
Our Moscow correspondent Shaun Walker says representatives of Roskosmos, the Russian space agency, are holding a press briefing in the Russian capital. We’re waiting for further details on who is speaking but we have these initial remarks from one of the representatives:
It’s impossible to say who or what is responsible for this at this point. There will be a state commission which will meet to discuss all the issues around further launches. The next launch is due on 26 May.
And Igor Komarov, head of Roskosmos, was quoted by agency LifeNews as saying:
A safe docking with the ISS is not possible. We are working out different options for a water landing.
This loss may only be partially covered: sources in major insurance companies told the agency that the ship was insured to the tune of 2 billion rubles (£25 million).
My colleague Ian Sample has more from ESA director Thomas Reiter.
Reiter said he had instructed the space agency’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, to track the spacecraft so that teams can predict when and where the spacecraft will come down if it cannot be rescued.
The spacecraft is 160 miles high and travelling at more than 16,000mph. That altitude is sufficiently below the space station to pose the crew no problems, but some satellites might need to take evasive manoeuvres. Such moves were becoming ever more necessary in space, said Reiter.
Docking has been called off for the Progress 59 spacecraft. Russian flight controllers are continuing to assess the vehicle and what the plan going forward will be. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.
Progress 59 could orbit the Earth for up to week and a half – ESA
Ian Sample
Thomas Reiter, director of human spaceflight and operations at the European Space Agency, just told me that if the Russians cannot regain control over the spacecraft, it could be up there for a week and a half max.
Normally, these vessels are jettisoned on controlled re-entry paths over the south Pacific, so that any fragments that survive burnup land in the ocean. This would be an uncontrolled re-entry, so some pieces could make it to land.
But the danger to people is very slim. More than two-thirds of Earth are covered in water and only about 3% of the land is occupied by urban areas.
Progress 59 spacecraft passes over England and London
An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft plunging back to Earth and apparently out of control has passed over southern England. Here’s what we know so far:
The ship had been scheduled to dock with the ISS, where the international crew of six people is awaiting the cargo, on 30 April.
A statement released overnight by the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) in the US says the Progress 59 spacecraft is rotating at a rate of 360 degrees every five seconds. (see 13.03).
US space agency Nasa last provided an update at 4am UK time explaining that Russian flight controllers were continuing attempts to communicate with the Progress 59 cargo spacecraft (see 12.25).
Progress 59 can be tracked using satellite monitoring tools online including Satflare and NY2O (see 13.51). It is travelling at 4.64 miles per second – or nearly 17,000mph.