Failed Satellite Booster Rocket Falls, Misses Land
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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — The rocket that launched a $157-million communications satellite but failed to put it in the proper orbit burned up harmlessly in the atmosphere or fell into the ocean, authorities said Thursday.
The Titan 3 booster came down on Wednesday morning at about the time the U.S. Space Command had predicted, Army Maj. Thomas Niemann said.
The uninsured Intelsat 6 satellite, launched by the rocket on March 14, is about 300 miles above Earth, a temporary position thousands of miles lower than it is supposed to be.
The satellite wound up in a uselessly low orbit after failing to separate properly from the second stage of the booster. Engineers managed to separate the satellite via computer commands, then sent it into a higher orbit.
The second stage of the booster remained trapped in an orbit that swung within about 100 miles of Earth and was pulled down by gravity.
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