Toxic Fuel Leaked From Fregat Booster At Kourou Due To Valve Failure - Russia's Lavochkin

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2020) Russian experts at the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana have established the reason behind the toxic fuel leak from the Fregat booster and will send the malfunctioning valve to Russia for examination, a representative of Russian aerospace company NPO Lavochkin, which manufactured Fregat, told Sputnik.

"The toxic fuel leaked from the Fregat booster at the Kourou spaceport due to valve failure," the representative said.

"After completing the neutralization of Fregat's oxidant tanks [removing toxic fuel remnants], they plan to dismantle the faulty valve and send in to Russia for examination," the representative noted, adding that NPO Lavochkin experts are now elaborating remedial action.

In May, Russian state space agency Roscosmos told Sputnik that French experts had seen an oxidizer (nitrogen tetraoxide) vapor detection system alarm periodically going off in the storage site of Fregat booster. Experts from NPO Lavochkin arrived at the spaceport to solve the problem on June 6. They are still engaged in the long-lasting neutralization procedure.