An experimental rocket, launched last week by Russia, has been recovered by search teams after it successfully returned to Earth using Inflatable Reentry and Descent Technology (IRDT). However, those teams still are continuing their search for the dummy satellite that accompanied the rocket on its journey.

The experimental Soyuz-Fregat booster launched Feb. 9 from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan. Its mission involved changing altitude multiple times and separating from its payload – the IRDT experimental bird and Argentina’s Microsat 2 spacecraft.

Both the Fregat booster and the IRDT returned to Earth, but radio beacon malfunctions and snowstorms have hampered efforts to recover the equipment. Search teams reportedly are confident that the dummy satellite soon will be recovered. Starsem plans to use the Soyuz-Fregat booster three more times this year. Those missions will involve the European Space Agency’s scientific mission Cluster II. The first launch is scheduled for next month as a validation flight to check the orbital deployment maneuvers for the satellites. Cluster II’s four birds will then be split between flights in June and July.