Russian space agency loses contact with rocket launched Tuesday

The Russian space agency Roscosmos has lost contact with a rocket launched Tuesday morning carrying 19 satellites. There were no people on board. The main payload is a data satellite for a Russian weather institute.

The Meteor M2-1 is also the first Russian satellite with support for the international Cospas-Sarsat program, which allows satellites to receive messages from, for example, ships and aircraft in distress.

The fate of the nineteen satellites is unknown, as Roscosmos is unable to contact the Soyuz-2.1b rocket. The rocket is not present at the place where it should orbit the earth. The space agency is analyzing the information.

In addition to the Meteo M2-1, eighteen other satellites were present on the flight as payload. They come from the United States, Japan, Sweden, Norway and Germany, among others.