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Russian Launchers Lose Sight of Israeli Satellite

PLESETSK -- After decades of arming Israel's enemies, Russia on Tuesday launched an Israeli satellite on a rocket originally designed to carry nuclear warheads.


Hours after the launch, however, there was concern by ground controllers that the satellite and two others aboard the rocket had failed to reach their orbit. Attempts to establish radio contact with them were unsuccessful.


The Gurwin-1 satellite, developed and built with the help of Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, was a sign of changing times and growing cooperation between the two once-hostile nations.


It was launched Tuesday from Plesetsk, 900 kilometers north of Moscow, by a Start booster rocket, an offshoot of technologies used to build SS-25 nuclear missiles.


A Russian-Mexican communications satellite and a Russian EKA-2 satellite also went up on the rocket.


The five-stage rocket roared into the overcast sky in a burst of fire, but after the fourth section separated, contact was lost.


Yossi Shartiel, a satellite project organizer in Israel, told Israeli army radio that controllers so far had lost contact with the craft. "We are worried," he said.


The 48-kilogram Gurwin-1 was built by Technion students, new immigrants and industry experts who donated time and hardware.

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