On 15 October 2002, a Soyuz-U carrying the ESA Foton-M1 project at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, failed to launch after one of the rocket's five engines did not start, resulting in an unstable flight plan. Approximately fifteen seconds after lift-off, the rocket fell back to the launch pad and exploded. The explosion killed 20-year-old soldier Ivan Marchenko, who had been watching the launch from behind a large glass window in a processing facility a kilometre from the launch pad. Read more