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  Russian space agency Roscosmos said Friday that the reason for the Soyuz rocket failure on August 24 was a production line defect. The space agency said a blocked duct cut the fuel supply to the Soyuz-U's third stage, causing its engine to shut down prematurely. The Soyuz rockets are currently the only transportation to the International Space Station since NASA retired its shuttle program in July. Russia grounded its Soyuz fleet after the accident a month ago.  The space...

   The six astronauts on the International Space Station are safe and continuing their normal work after the loss of their space-bound cargo craft on 24 August. While the cause of the accident is being sought by a Russian commission, the Station partners are preparing for several scenarios to ensure the safety of the crew and the orbital outpost. The Progress 44 freighter, carrying 2670 kg of cargo for the Station, failed to reach proper orbit after the premature shutdown of its...

  Astronauts may be forced to abandon the International Space Station (ISS) in November if last week’s engine failure of a Russian Soyuz rocket is not diagnosed and fixed, a senior NASA official said on Monday. Evacuation is a distinct possibility in mid-November if the rockets are still grounded at that time, the NASA official said. “We’re going to do what’s the safest for the crew and for the space station, which is a very big investment of our governments,” said Michael...

The Russian space agency (Roscosmos) said today that a Soyuz rocket successfully carried six U.S. Globalstar satellites into orbit on Wednesday after postponing the launch twice earlier this week. Roscosmos said in a statement that the rocket blasted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome, which it leases from Kazakhstan. The launch of the Globalstar-2 satellites had been initially scheduled for Monday.  However, it was postponed twice for technical reasons, according to the space agency....

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which has been given some much needed updating, was lifted into launch position on Sunday in preparation for a launch to the International Space Station (ISS) this week, reports the Associated Press (AP). With the US shuttle program scheduled for a farewell voyage in July, the Russian craft takes on renewed importance as the only available lifeline to space.An international crew comprised of Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, NASA's Michael Fossum and Satoshi...

A spokesman for launch operators Arianespace said on Tuesday that the maiden launch of the veteran Soviet-Russian rocket Soyuz from Europe's space base in South America has been scheduled for October. Spokesman Mario de Lepine said, "Right now we are looking at mid-October" for the first launch.He said Soyuz will carry the first two satellites in Europe's Galileo navigation system, the competitor to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia...

The official ceremony marking ESA's handover of the Soyuz launch site to Arianespace took place today at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana, after the site was declared ready for the first flight and the completion of a simulated launch campaign.The French space agency, CNES, as prime contractor for the building work, along with its European and Russian partners, has spent recent months qualifying the site.In March, the "˜acceptance review' declared that it was ready for its first rocket...

The final countdown before its maiden flight later this year has begun for Soyuz with a simulated launch campaign at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.This dry run ensures that the Soyuz and the new facilities work together perfectly, while allowing the teams to train under realistic launch conditions. It also validates all the procedures during the final phase before launch, except the fuelling of the vehicle.  Last Friday, one of the two Soyuz launchers already at the Spaceport was...

The Russian Soyuz chief constructor said on Tuesday that the spacecraft set to launch in December has suffered damage to its container during transit.  Vitaly Lopota, the president of the Energia spaceship factory, told the Interfax news agency that engineers spotted damage to the Soyuz TMA-20's transport container after it was shipped by rail to the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. "When we put the ship on a stand to check it over before the launch, we discovered damage, but to the...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday that the country would provide $800 million to help jump start the construction of a new cosmodrome to ease its dependence on a Soviet-era launch site in Kazakhstan. "The government has made a decision to earmark $809 million over the next three years for the start of the full-blown construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome," Putin said in televised remarks at a government meeting.Russia rents its main Soviet-era spaceport Baikonur from...