Launch of New Crew to Orbital Station Likely to be Delayed Until July 8

The launch of the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft with the next expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) will be most likely postponed from June 24 to July 8, according to a Russian space industry source.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The launch of a new crew to the International Space Station (ISS) will likely be delayed until July 8 for technical reasons, a Russian space industry source said Wednesday.

Expedition 48-49 crew members Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos, Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and Kate Rubins of NASA are scheduled to travel to the ISS on June 24 for a four-month space mission.

"The launch of the Soyuz MS-01 spacecraft with the next expedition to the ISS will be most likely postponed from June 24 to July 8," the source told RIA Novosti on condition of anonymity.

The source added that the delay of the Soyuz launch would result in the postponement of the launch of Russia's Progress-MS space freighter from July 7 to July 17.