Planetary Society Not Included in Cosmos 1 Solar Sail Spacecraft Failure Review
The Planetary Society announced today that the review board convened to determine the reason for the failed June 21, 2005 launch of the Cosmos 1 solar sail spacecraft has concluded that the launch failed due to a premature shut-down of the first-stage engine caused by a "critical degradation in operational capability of the engine turbo-pump."
The Planetary Society was not invited to be part of the failure review and was notified by the State Department's Office of Defense Trade Controls that under the International Arms Traffic Regulations the organization was not allowed to participate in the launch failure review without a license.
The Planetary Society's announcement can be viewed at the following link: www.planetary.org/solarsail/update_20050720.html.