Mis-launched satellite now cold dead

The military satellite Geo-IK-2, which was launched into an erroneous orbit in early February, has stopped communicating with mission control.

The news came at no surprise to the Russian Defence Ministry, which earlier confirmed that the satellite, which was meant to be used for precise mapping of the Earth’s surface, would not be able to perform its original function.Top brass considered limiting the damage by using the craft for some other goal like space maneuvering practice, but later abandoned the idea.The satellite responded to commands from Earth for some time, but after its orientation systems failed, it went silent.An investigation into the reasons of the failure is underway, although results may be classified due to the secret nature of the satellite’s program.