Rocket carrying Doohan’s remains fails

LOS ANGELES – A privately held rocket company on Wednesday blamed a design error for its latest failure to reach orbit, which caused the loss of three government satellites and human ashes, including the remains of astronaut Gordon Cooper and “Star Trek” actor James Doohan.

The two-stage Falcon 1 rocket, which blasted off from a Central Pacific atoll Saturday night, separated as planned on its way to space, but leftover thrust after engine cutoff caused the first stage to fall back and hit the second stage, according to Hawthorne-based SpaceX.

The rocket, containing the remains of 208 people, dropped in the Pacific and was not recovered.

The family of Doohan, who played Scotty on the television show “Star Trek,” could not be reached Wednesday night.

The rocket also carried three small satellites for NASA and the Defense Department. It was not immediately known how much the satellites cost. NASA lost a nanosatellite and an experimental solar sail.

Saturday’s foiled launch was the third miss for SpaceX, which hopes to break into the low-cost space launch business. Its 2006 maiden launch failed due to a fuel line leak. The rocket reached some 180 miles above Earth on its second try last year, but its second stage prematurely shut off.