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Agencies

Russian investigators said they had opened a criminal probe into a failed rocket launch that caused a two-man crew to make an emergency landing soon after blasting off to the International Space Station on Thursday.
“An investigative group has been formed and officials are currently examining the launch site, documents are being seized,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
The probe would try to determine whether safety regulations had been violated during construction, leading to massive damage, the statement said.
American Nick Hague and Russian Alexey Ovchinin landed safely without any injuries after an “anomaly with the booster” prompted the ascent to be aborted, Nasa head Jim Bridenstine said in a statement.
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos tweeted video of the two getting on a plane back from the crash site.

Основной и дублирующий экипажи корабля #СоюзМС10 направляются на Байконур из города Жезказган pic.twitter.com/qxRGNfMal0
— РОСКОСМОС (@roscosmos) 11 October 2018

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“The emergency rescue system worked, the vessel was able to land in Kazakhstan … the crew are alive,” the space agency said earlier.
Hague and Ovchinin – both former military pilots – were set to join Alexander Gerst of the European Space Agency, Nasa’s Serena Aunon-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos following a six-hour flight.

“The launch had a problem with the booster a few seconds after the first stage separation and we can confirm now that the crew has started to go into ballistic descent mode,” the voice-over on a Nasa live-stream from mission control in Houston said.
A ballistic descent is when a craft comes back to the ground at a sharper angle than normal, causing higher gravitational forces on the bodies of the astronauts, but they are prepared for this in training, the commentator said.
“We’re tightening our seat belts,” Ovchinin said on the video. “That was a short flight.”
The Kremlin confirmed the men had survived. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists: “Thank God the cosmonauts are alive.”

The head of Nasa Jim Bridenstine was at the launch at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome together with Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos, as part of an effort to mend relations between the two space superpowers.

LIFTOFF! Shooting into the sky at 4:40am ET, the Soyuz rocket carrying @AstroHague and Alexey Ovchinin leaves Earth on a four-orbit, six-hour journey to the @Space_Station. Watch: https://t.co/BjMDNrNorR pic.twitter.com/0Cfm0Uu2Jx
— NASA (@NASA) October 11, 2018

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The US has been trying to end Russia’s monopoly on manned flights to the ISS by encouraging private commercial development of launches.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s Space Explorations Technologies and Boeing have contracts to deliver astronauts to the ISS starting next year, which may threaten a key source of funding for Russia’s space programme.
Why Donald Trump’s Space Force is both funny and frightening
Roscosmos has earned billions of dollars in fees ferrying astronauts into orbit since Nasa retired its fleet of space shuttles in 2011. Rogozin accused Musk last week of selling seats on SpaceX at below cost to undermine Russia’s market share.
Over the past few years the Russian space industry has suffered a series of problems including the loss of a number of satellites and other spacecraft.

In 1975, Oleg Makarov and Vasily Lazarev made a successful emergency landing in Siberia’s Altai Mountains following problems during booster separation.
Vladimir Titov and Gennady Strekalov survived a fire during launch in Kazakhstan in 1983.
Since its debut in the Soviet Union in 1966, the Soyuz has been the most-used launch vehicle in history.
Nasa tweeted that Roscosmos has formed a commission to investigate the latest Soyuz incident.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said he hoped the United States would be understanding about the incident. He was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency that manned space flights would be suspended until an investigation into the cause of the malfunction is finished.
The next launch was expected to be in December, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing an unidentified person.

Glad our friends are fine. Thanks to the rescue force of >1000 SAR professionals! Today showed again what an amazing vehicle the #Soyuz is, to be able to save the crew from such a failure. Spaceflight is hard. And we must keep trying for the benefit of humankind #Exp57 #SoyuzMS10 pic.twitter.com/H7RmToBb5C
— Alexander Gerst (@Astro_Alex) October 11, 2018

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The ISS crew said it had enough supplies so the incident would not affect its operations, according to Tass new agency. Interfax said it had enough for the current crew to last six months, quoting an unnamed source.
A rare point of cooperation between Moscow and Washington – the station has been orbiting Earth at roughly 28,000km/h since 1998 and will mark its 20th birthday in November.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Washington Post

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Space

Russia opens criminal probe after rocket malfunction forces emergency landing

On-board video camera shows Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin (left) and American Nasa astronaut Nick Hague during the launch of the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft on October 11, 2018. Photo: EPA

In this handout picture released on Russia's space agency Roscosmos Twitter account on October 11, 2018, Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin undergoes medical examination in the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan. - The two-man crew of a Soyuz rocket made a successful emergency landing Thursday after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station, in a major setback for the beleaguered Russian space industry. Hague and Russian Ovchinin were rescued without injuries in Kazakhstan. (Photo by HO / Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Russia's space agency Roscosmos Twitter account / HO" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

In this handout picture released on Russia's space agency Roscosmos Twitter account on October 11, 2018, NASA astronaut Nick Hague undergoes medical examination in the town of Dzhezkazgan (Zhezkazgan), Kazakhstan. - The two-man crew of a Soyuz rocket made a successful emergency landing Thursday after an engine problem on lift-off to the International Space Station, in a major setback for the beleaguered Russian space industry. Hague and Russian Ovchinin were rescued without injuries in Kazakhstan. (Photo by HO / Russian Space Agency Roscosmos / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Russia's space agency Roscosmos Twitter account / HO" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

epa07085623 Soyuz booster rocket with the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying crew members expedition 57/58, Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague to the International Space Station (ISS) takes off from the launch pad at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, 11 October 2018. The Russian Soyuz rocket has malfunctioned on lift-off and has landed safely in Kazahstan, Russian media report. EPA-EFE/YURI KOCHETKOV

The Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying the crew of astronaut Nick Hague of the U.S. and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of Russia blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan October 11, 2018. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

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World

Russia & Central Asia

Moscow suspended manned space flights after a booster on a Soyuz craft failed, forcing an emergency landing


Moscow suspended manned space flights after a booster on a Soyuz craft failed, forcing an emergency landing.


Russia

Russia opens criminal probe after rocket malfunction forces emergency landing

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Moscow suspended manned space flights after a booster on a Soyuz craft failed, forcing an emergency landing

Moscow suspended manned space flights after a booster on a Soyuz craft failed, forcing an emergency landing