MOSCOW, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Russia's space agency on Monday delayed the return of three crew from the International Space Station and postponed the launch of new crew members following the crash of a cargo craft last week.
RIA news agency said the crew would now return to Earth around Sept. 16 instead of Sept. 8 and new crew members would blast off for the orbiting station in late October or early November instead of on Sept. 22.
Interfax news agency quoted an official at the Roskosmos space agency as saying officials may have to consider leaving the space station unmanned if no new crew can reach it before the end of November.
'If for any reason we will not be able to deliver the crew before the end of November, we will need to review all possibilities including leaving the station unmanned,' Alexei Krasnov, an official in charge of manned flights at Roskosmos, was quoted as saying by Interfax.
The International Space Station, which serves as a research laboratory, has been permanently manned for more than a decade.
An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying food and fuel to the International Space Station failed to reach orbit and burned up in the atmosphere shortly after launch on Aug. 24 because of an apparent failure of the rocket's upper-stage motor.
An investigation into the cargo ship accident is under way. Krasnov said Roskosmos would carry out one or two test launches before sending the new crew into space.
The rockets which carry Progress cargo ships and Soyuz manned spacecraft have the same type of engines.
(Writing by Gleb Bryanski and Timothy Heritage, editing by Tim Pearce) Keywords: SPACE RUSSIA/
(gleb.bryanski@thomsonreuters.com)(+74957751242)(Reuters Messaging: gleb.bryanski.reuters.com@reuters.com)
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