Roscosmos spoke about the situation that led to the accident of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle. The abbreviation "FG" denotes nozzle heads of engines of 1 and 2 rocket stages, distinguishing the vehicle from the Soyuz-U model.
According to the head of the concern Sergey Krikalev, the rocket explosion occurred due to the fact that the separation sensor of the first and second stages failed.
“The abnormal operation of the device led to the fact that one of the side blocks of the first stage of Soyuz-FG did not move to the desired distance and hit the fuel tank of the second stage,” the director of RIA Novosti reports. - The result of the impact was the explosion of the tank.
Recall, on October 11, a new expedition was launched to the international space station (ISS). It includes our compatriot Alexei Ovchinin and US citizen Nick Haig. The new crew went from the Baikonur space center. For delivery, a standard Soyuz-FG rocket was used. These rockets have been launching Earth satellites into orbit for a long time.
The accident happened in the first seconds of the flight. Fortunately, the astronauts were able to leave the carrier module in time. They were evacuated in a rescue capsule. The landing took place in a suburb of the Kazakh city of Zhezkazgan. For the Russian cosmonaut this flight was to be the second, his colleague from the USA flew into space for the first time.
As noted in the Roskosmos concern, such accidents have not occurred with carriers of this type for 35 years.
