Soviet Rocket Falls to Earth; No Sign of Debris

A Soviet satellite booster rocket re-entered the atmosphere over the U.S.-Canadian border with no sign that any debris reached the ground, the State Department said Friday.

The Soviet news agency Tass reported the launch Wednesday and said in a later dispatch that the third stage of the Proton rocket booster, which had put three satellites into orbit, descended over the border just north of Minnesota.

There was “no indication that any debris of any kind hit the ground,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. He said the descent of such boosters occurs routinely and that they usually burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground.