AFP, Baikonur :
An unmanned Russian cargo ship bound for the International Space Station (ISS) was successfully launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome Friday, following a string of failed resupply missions.
Russian television broadcast the launch of the Progress M-28M ship, which departed from the Kazakh steppes in a cloud of white smoke.
The vessel, which is transporting nearly three tonnes of food supplies and scientific materials, is expected to arrive at the ISS at 07:13 GMT on Sunday, the Russian Federal Space Agency said.
Friday’s launch marks Russia’s first ISS resupply mission since the loss of a previous Progress cargo ship, which disintegrated in space on May 8 after it failed to dock with the space station.
That failure meant that the next manned flight to the ISS was delayed from late May to July 23.
The same type of rocket is used for manned ships, meaning that all problems with Progress resupply missions need to be thoroughly investigated before any manned vessels can be launched.
An unmanned Russian cargo ship bound for the International Space Station (ISS) was successfully launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome Friday, following a string of failed resupply missions.
Russian television broadcast the launch of the Progress M-28M ship, which departed from the Kazakh steppes in a cloud of white smoke.
The vessel, which is transporting nearly three tonnes of food supplies and scientific materials, is expected to arrive at the ISS at 07:13 GMT on Sunday, the Russian Federal Space Agency said.
Friday’s launch marks Russia’s first ISS resupply mission since the loss of a previous Progress cargo ship, which disintegrated in space on May 8 after it failed to dock with the space station.
That failure meant that the next manned flight to the ISS was delayed from late May to July 23.
The same type of rocket is used for manned ships, meaning that all problems with Progress resupply missions need to be thoroughly investigated before any manned vessels can be launched.
