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Rocket launch carrying space station crew to be delayed
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    • MOSCOW (AFP) Sep 15, 2004
     The launch of a Soyuz rocket due to carry the next Russian-US crew to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 9 is set to be delayed for technical reasons, Russian space officials said on Wednesday.

    "The launch stands to be delayed by five to 10 days," due to a "technical failure in the docking system," said a space agency spokesman, quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency.

    A new launch date will be announced after the repair work is complete, said the official, without specifying whether the docking problem was located on the spacecraft or the ISS itself.

    Russian cosmonaut Salijan Charipov and US astronaut Leroy Chiao are due to replace the American Michael Fincke and the Russian Gennady Padalka, who have been orbiting on board the ISS since April 21.

    The Russian Soyuz TMA-5 spacecraft will leave from the Baikonur space station in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, also carrying Russian space force officer Yuri Chargin, who is to spend 10 days on board the ISS.




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