All Soyuz Launches May Be Impacted

ANN Realtime Update 8.24.2011 1214 EDT The Russian Progress cargo spacecraft which launched Wednesday morning (EDT) on a re-supply mission to ISS failed to separate from its third stage booster about six minutes into its flight, and impacted the ground in the Altai Republic in South Siberia. It was the first reported loss of a Russian Progress freighter.

The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that the accident may cause Roscosmos to suspend all Soyuz launches, including manned missions, while the accident is under investigation, meaning for the time being there is no means of transport to the station. The U.S. has a four-year contract worth more than $1 billion for crew transportation to the ISS.

Roscosmos says it has carried out 130 successful launches of the Progress freighters since they entered service in 1972. Officials say that the STS-135 mission carried enough supplies to the station to last about a year.

Original Story: Mission Control Moscow reported an abnormal situation from the Progress 44 cargo craft that launched on time at 0900 EDT Wednesday.

According to NASA, Progress 44 launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome into a cloudless sky at 1900 Kazakhstan time bound for the International Space Station and a docking on Friday. At the time of launch, the space station was flying 230 miles over Equatorial Guinea on the west coast of Africa. The spacecraft is carrying 2.9 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the space station.

But, 5 minutes and 50 seconds after launch, Mission Control Houston received a report of an “off-nominal situation” during the rocket's third and final stage. NASA says further details will be provided as they become available.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.federalspace.ru/?lang=en