More on VLS-1 launch
Allen Thomson (thomsona@netcom.com)
Sun, 2 Nov 1997 10:13:09 -0800 (PST)
The first VLS-1 launch is looking less and less like a complete
success.
BRASILIA, Nov 2 [1997] (AFP)
[EXCERPTS]
Brazil destroyed a satellite-deployment rocket just 65 seconds
(eds: correct) after launching it Sunday when the rocket veered
off course, officials reported.
Engineers from the Brazilian Space Agency told Globo television
the rocket was destroyed by remote control at an altitude of 3,230
meters (10,659 feet) after one of the propulsion engines failed.
The Brazilian-made VLS-1 rocket plunged into the sea within a
protected area some two kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Alcantara
space station, in northeastern Maranahao state, officials said...
Each one of Brazil's VLS-1 rocket costs about 6.5 million
dollars -- a bargain compared to the 15 million dollars of the
Pegasus, space agency officials said.
The VLS-1 is the first of four prototypes to be tested by the
Brazilian Space Agency and the Institute for Space Research. The
development of the rocket took eight years and cost of some 280
million dollars.