Soyuz launch postponed for several days

MOSCOW. March 15. KAZINFORM Russia has postponed the launch of its Soyuz ship with a crew to the International Space Station for several days; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

The new date of the launch will be announced later, Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) chief Anatoly Perminov said.

He said there was "nothing serious" in the problems found in the rocket. "The equipment is being tested at the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia. Everything is going well. As soon as it is over, in about two days, a new date of the launch will be determined," Perminov said on Monday, March 14.

He noted that delays in manned missions occur rarely, but "there is no need to take risks even because of the slightest defects".

The Soyuz TMA-21 ship, named after the world's first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, will take a new resident crew to the ISS.