Photo is courtesy of Sergey Savostyanov/TASS.
Russian news service TASS indicates that the launch of the Soyuz MS manned spacecraft, which is due to take a new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS), has been rescheduled to July 7 from June 24 due to control system flaws that may disrupt the ship's docking with the ISS, this according to a source in the Russian aerospace industry.
The source stated that "The launch has been rescheduled for July 7. The crew is expected to come to Baikonur (the Russian space center located is Kazakhstan TASS) on June 24. Experts have established the ship will be rolling as it docks the ISS and they are unable to stop this rolling motion, so far."
The rescheduling of the Soyuz MS launch has necessitated postponement of the launch of the Progress MS cargo spacecraft, which was initially planned for July 7. Under the new schedule, this launch may take place on July 17, according to the source.
TASS UPDATE…
The government commission of the state-run corporation Roscosmos may make a final decision regarding the date of launching the manned spacecraft Soyuz MS to the International Space Station on Monday, June 6, a source in the space rocket industry has told TASS.
"The specialists of the spacecraft’s manufacturer—corporation Energia—have three days to do away with the problems that postponed the launch originally scheduled for June 24," the source said.
The government commission will meet in session on June 6 to decide when to go ahead with the launch of the Soyuz spacecraft. If the glitch is eliminated within days, the launch will be carried out on June 24, as was originally expected.
Another source in the industry told TASS that a decision has, in fact already been made, and the government commission is expected to merely authorize it. The launch may take place at 04:35 on July 7, Moscow time, while the Soyuz TMA-19M spacecraft, currently docked to the ISS, will return to the Earth on July 2. No official confirmation of this information has yet been received by TASS.
The Roscosmos corporation has denied all rumors that the Soyuz MS mission might be delayed.
