A Russian Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying the Meteor M satellite and additional 18 small satellites lifts off from the launch pad at the new Vostochny cosmodrome. (DMITRI LOVETSKY/AP)
A human error that gave the coordinates for a launch pad more than 4,000 miles away is being blamed for the loss of valuable satellites last month.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told state media Wednesday that problems from the space agency Roskosmos were to blame for the quick disappearance of the Soyuz rocket carrying devices from Russia, Europe and the United States.
It flew off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East, though the coordinates for its takeoff were for Baikonur, the more often-used launch site in Kazakhstan, he said.
It was not immediately clear if anyone had been punished for the error.
Rogozin added that the investigation into exactly how it happened are still underway, and that a report would be submitted to President Vladimir Putin.
Confusion between Baikonur and Vostochny, which are separated by thousands of miles of Mongolia and Siberia, comes as Russia tries to use the second site to ease pressure on the first.
Beyond sending satellites into orbit, Baikonur has been responsible for sending all astronauts to the International Space Station after the U.S. ended its shuttle program in 2011.
It is believed that the upper stage of the Soyuz rocket lost in November crashed back down to Earth in the northern Atlantic Ocean.
Beyond a Russian weather satellite, the mission included satellites for customers from the U.S, Germany, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Japan.
- ny news
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