An unmanned Russian supply spacecraft reportedly burned up in the atmosphere. The ship was launched in order to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Russian space agency Roscosmos claims that they lost communication with the Progress MS-04 approximately 382 seconds within its flight.
The spacecraft's third stage rockets reportedly stopped working "earlier than planned" according to NASA (via The Verge). The Russian supply spacecraft never reached proper orbit and caused it to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. The craft launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A tweet from ISS updates claims reports were received about explosions and fireballs seen in the sky of Tuva, Russia.
According to CNN, Roscosmos reports that most of the wreckage of the Russian supply spacecraft "burned in the dense atmosphere." The space agency, however, also said that it was possible for some of the debris to have fallen to the surface.
The Russian supply spacecraft was apparently holding a little over 5300 lbs. of supplies. The cargo included water, food, propellant and other provisions. The resupply missions are specially scheduled that eve in cases where if the space agency loses one or two missions, the crew aboard the space station stays well-stocked and safe. NASA reported that "consumables aboard the station are at good levels" according to their blog post. Another resupply mission is supposedly scheduled for next week, while another is set for early 2017. The Japanese space agency is expected to handle the next mission.
This incident with the Russian supply spacecraft is apparently the second ISS resupply mission which encountered problems in the past two years. Roscosmos reportedly lost control of one of their supply ships back in April 2015. The lack of control caused the spacecraft to spin wildly and eventually burn up in the atmosphere. Another resupply mission back in 2011 also ended up like their latest mishap. The craft's third stage Soyuz rocket malfunctioned, causing the spacecraft to also burn up in our atmosphere.
