A spacecraft designed to be the first space vehicle entirely propelled by the sun's energy was feared lost on Wednesday.

Russian officials said they were looking for debris from Cosmos 1, a joint U.S.-Russia craft powered by solar sail, saying it had not gained orbit due to a booster rocket failure.

"The booster's failure means the solar sail vehicle was lost," said Vyacheslav Davidenko, spokesman for the Russian space agency.

Drawing of Cosmos 1 leaving the orbit of Earth.
Drawing of Cosmos 1 leaving the orbit of Earth.

However, U.S. scientists said their tracking stations may have received some signals from the craft, which was launched Tuesday afternoon from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea.

The $4-million US Cosmos 1 was supposed to orbit the Earth once every 101 minutes for at least a month.

The solar sail, which gathers the sun's energy, eliminates the need for chemical rocket fuel in orbit. Because of its limitless energy supply, it is geared to travel farther than traditional rockets, according to officials.

Proponents suggest a solar-powered craft could even cross the vast distances between stars by gradually accelerating to near the speed of light.