http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051007/41627160.html
"MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia successfully conducted Friday a test launch of a sea-based modified ballistic missile with a Demonstrator spacecraft on board, a Defense Ministry official said.
The official said the Volna carrier rocket had been launched at 1:30 a.m. Moscow time (9:30 p. m. GMT, Thursday) from the Borisoglebsk, a Delta III-class nuclear submarine, in the Barents Sea.
It is the fourth attempt to orbit the Demonstrator using the Volna carrier-rocket, as the three previous attempts ended in failure."
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200510081715.htm
Experimental Russian spacecraft missing following launch
"Moscow, Oct 8. (AP): Russian and European authorities searched for an experimental mini-spacecraft on the eastern peninsula of Kamchatka today, a day after the prototype was test launched from a nuclear submarine thousands of kilometres away, news reports said.
The Demonstrator spacecraft - designed to carry cargo and passengers from the international space station to Earth - was launched from the submarine Borisoglebsk in the Barents Sea on Friday and was reported to have descended toward its target on time.
Russian news agencies and television, however, later reported that engineers had no communication with the craft and had to call off the search at nightfall."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1817676,00.html
Europe's £90m probe blows up after launch
"A EUROPEAN space mission designed to monitor the melting of the polar ice caps ended in failure when the rocket carrying it into orbit broke up shortly after its launch yesterday afternoon"
"Vyacheslav Davydenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, said: "The booster unit did not switch on resulting in the failure of the satellite, which fell in the ocean.""
"The probe was being carried into space on a Rockot — a converted SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missile which, during the cold war would have carried nuclear weapons."
http://www.eurockot.com/alist.asp?cnt=20040855
[Cryosat]
"The second stage performed nominally until main engine cut-off was to occur. Due to a missing command from the onboard flight control system the main engine continued to operate until depletion of the remaining fuel.
As a consequence, the separation of the second stage from the upper stage did not occur."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/12860104.htm
"MOSCOW - Russia suspended launches of a rocket used in a failed mission to put a European satellite into orbit to map polar ice, according to news reports Sunday.
The Rokot booster rocket will not be launched again pending the outcome of an investigation into Saturday's unsuccessful launch, state-run Rossiya television reported, citing the Russian space agency."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/09/content_3599172.htm
"BEIJING, Oct. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- China's planned launch of Shenzhou VI vessel, its second manned space mission, signals that the country begins to carry out aerospace experiments with real human participation, said a senior space engineer here Sunday."
"[The] mission is expected to be launched in a few days to come, carrying for the first time two astronauts for a five-day flight."