Launch of Russian Soyuz spacecraft aborted seconds before blast-off
- The crew – a Russian, a Belarusian and an American headed for the International Space Station – were safely evacuated
- Aborting the launch at such late notice is rare – with the rocket on the launch pad with its crew bracing for take-off
The launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft was aborted just seconds before scheduled lift-off to the International Space Station on Thursday and the crew of a Russian, a Belarusian and an American were safety evacuated.
“Launch!” mission control said in Russian as the rocket was shown at its launch site at the Baikonur cosmodrome in the steppe of Kazakhstan with its main umbilical shown moving away.
Then the words “automatic cancellation of the launch” came over the live stream just 20 seconds before the scheduled launch.
Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, said there had been a slump in the current of a chemical power source about 20 seconds before lift-off. It was not immediately clear what exactly the current fluctuation affected.
Aborting the launch at such late notice is rare – with the rocket on the launch pad with its crew bracing for take-off.
Roscosmos said the launch would take place on March 23 at 5.36pm local time, and space chief Yuri Borisov played down the drama.
