The successful launch of the Cosmos 1 spacecraft initially is now turned into a disdainful hope to find the unit by researchers that were involved with the project. The group of researchers pointed out that Cosmos 1 appears to be lost in space, and its recent status is currently unknown, although they are hoping that it’s still in orbit.

"There's still a slim, very slim, chance that the spacecraft is up there," said Emily Lakdawalla, Project Operations Assistant. "We haven't given up hope, ... but it's an unlikely scenario."

According to researchers, there are two things that went wrong. The first was related to the Volna rocket that took the spacecraft into space, and unluckily it stopped firing after 83 seconds into the launch. The second problem is that the second-stage boosters failed to separate from the spacecraft, which made it impossible for Cosmos 1 to reach its planned orbit of 500 miles above Earth.

The researchers are predicting that Cosmos 1 reached far enough into space to complete a portion of its planned orbit before decimating itself. They further added that if the spacecraft has actually made it to the orbit then it’s a possibility that it’s traveling at such speeds that Cosmos 1 is almost undetectable. The group said, they did receive few signals from the spacecraft, but they gradually faded away.

It’s only a speculation until scientists can confirm Cosmos 1’s status.

Cosmos 1 was scheduled to launch from a Russian submarine in Barents Sea at 12:46 p.m. PDT (1746 GMT) on June 21st. The project was funded in part by Cosmos Studio, an entertainment studio and The Planetary Society, a non-profit organization. Lakdawalla said even though the project appears to have failed, those that funded it would continue to donate for other such projects in the future.