Probe Commission Rules Out Sabotage as Possible Cause of Soyuz Failure - Source

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The state commission investigating the Soyuz-FG booster failure has ruled out sabotage during the assembly of the rocket as a possible cause, a space industry source told Sputnik.

"The Commission understands that the damage was not intentional," the source said, noting that the commission had ruled deliberate sabotage as a possible version.

Russia's Roscosmos State Space Corporation will announce the results of the probe into the Soyuz-FG booster failure on Monday or Tuesday, Roscosmos press service head Vladimir Ustimenko told Sputnik.

"[The investigation will be completed] by the end of the week, give or take a couple of days. I think [the results will be announced] on Monday or Tuesday. The exact date is unclear, but I think we will meet the deadline," Ustimenko said.

READ MORE: Russian Investigators Identify Responsible for Failed Soyuz Launch — Source

On October 11, the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle failed to launch the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft, with Hague and Ovchinin on board, toward the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Just minutes after the liftoff, the mission was aborted due to the booster's malfunction.

The two-man crew escaped in a rescue capsule and returned back unharmed. Immediately afterward, an investigation into the incident was launched in Russia.