MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia will resume searching for the military satellite that was landed overnight to January 10, a source in the Russian defense industry told Interfax-Military News Agency Friday.
"The search operation of the satellite designated Kosmos-2410 will most likely resume in the probable landing area, because the satellite is important for research purposes and was on a test flight," he said.
He recalled that the spacecraft was launched September 24, 2004 from Plesetsk with the help of the Kosmos-3M carrier rocket with the aim to test the new generation spacecraft in flight. The satellite was landed overnight to January 10 after 107 days in orbit.
"The developers of the satellite are mostly concerned to find it, as they need flight data recordings of the operation in orbit and measurements of various influence on equipment. The analysis of the data is required to further the work on the satellite," he said.
He also said that capsules with photographic materials could have stayed at place after landing, though they were to detach.
According to him, the satellite has not been found yet only due to the adverse weather conditions in the search area, aggravated by severe frost and deep snow.
"It used to happen that even cosmonauts had to wait several days before search parties found them, despite the fact that much more resources, assets and personnel were involved in such search operations," he added.
According to him, it is unlikely that the satellite has burnt in the atmosphere - a version voiced by some media outlets.
"The satellite's descent was controlled, which allowed detecting the probable area of its landing," he said.
The Russian Space Forces press service refused to comment on the situation.
Kosmos-2410 was developed by the Samara-based Progress Space Center in cooperation with the St. Petersburg-based Arsenal machine-building plant.