The Russian government has re-established a communications link with an environmental satellite after losing contact with the spacecraft shortly after its Aug. 27 launch.

Ground controllers lost the Monitor-E satellite after it was placed into orbit by a Rokot launch vehicle from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia, according to Russian news agency Itar-Tass. While communications have been restored, it could take engineers as long as six month to regain full control of the spacecraft, a spokesman for the Khrunichev Space Center told Itar-Tass.

The 750-kilogram satellite is designed to study agriculture and forestry conditions, survey the aftermath of disasters and perform ecological monitoring during a five-year mission.