The Russian cargo spacecraft launched on April 28 was unable to reach the International Space Station and left the orbit on Thursday night, burnt in the atmosphere, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
The capsule and more than three tons of cargo on board, intended for the crew of the space station, re-entered the atmosphere over the central part of the Pacific Ocean at 10 o'clock in the evening, the Roskosmos said in a statement posted 15 minutes ago on the website.
Any debris that would have survived a fire descent through the atmosphere would have splashed down in the ocean, as well as the returning bulk carrier. On April 28, Progress-59 Mission launched aboard the Russian Soyuz rocket, and as expected, 4 hours later it was supposed to dock with the space station. Instead, 9 minutes after launch, the Earth lost contact with the cargo ship immediately after its separation from the third stage of the launch vehicle.
The engines could not lift the rocket to the required height, and the capsule began to gradually fall toward the Earth.
Investigations are underway regarding a failed launch. Roscosmos said that the results will be known on Wednesday.
