Russia May Have to Delay Space Launch

MOSCOW – Russia may have to delay October’s planned launch of the next International Space Station crew by up to 10 days to fix a problem on the spacecraft that is to carry them into orbit, Russian news agencies reported.

The Soyuz space craft was scheduled to blast off from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome on Oct. 9 with Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and U.S. astronaut Leroy Chiao. They would replace cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and astronaut Mike Fincke, who are winding down a six-month mission on the orbiting craft.

Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin will also travel into space, but is to return 10 days later with the current space station crew.

“The launch of Soyuz TMA-5 with its three cosmonauts may have to be delayed by five to 10 days,” Vyacheslav Davidenko of Russia’s space agency, Rosaviakosmos, told the ITAR-Tass news agency.

The delay is due to a problem with the craft’s docking system, the Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

Vladimir Syromyatnikov, an official from Energiya, which builds the Soyuz crafts, told ITAR-Tass that one of the explosive bolts that detonate to separate the ship’s various components in space prematurely went off during tests.

Davidenko said that a special commission had been formed and they were working to correct the problem as soon as possible.

“Chief for us is the security of the crew, but nevertheless we have set ourselves the task of taking off on the planned launch date – Oct. 9,” he was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying.

No Russian space officials could be reached late Thursday to comment on the reports.

Russian space vehicles have provided the only link with the space station since the United States grounded the shuttle fleet after Columbia broke apart over Texas on Feb. 1, 2003, killing all seven astronauts on board.