Cosmos 1 Solar Sail Update – Spacecraft Signal May Have Been Detected

At 12:46 PM (PDT) on June 21, 2005, Cosmos 1, a project of The Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios, was launched from a submerged Russian nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea.  Cosmos 1 is the first solar sail spacecraft and is designed to sail on light, using photons for propulsion in Earth orbit.

The following is a statement regarding the status of the mission at 9:40 PM PDT:
We continue to search for the Cosmos 1 spacecraft.  We have reviewed our telemetry recordings and have found what we believe are spacecraft signals in the data recorded at the tracking stations in Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka and Majuro, Marshall Islands.  The review of data received at the tracking station in Panska Ves, Czech Republic also appears to indicate a spacecraft signal.  If confirmed, these data will indicate that Cosmos 1 made it to orbit.  We will continue to monitor planned telemetry sessions and will be working with U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM) to locate Cosmos 1.
The Planetary Society will continue to post updates on its website at http://planetary.org as information on the status of the spacecraft becomes available.