Monitoring Desk
MOSCOW: Russia’s space agency on Saturday said it was planning to send a rescue ship on February 24 to bring home three astronauts whose return vehicle was harmed by a tiny meteoroid.
A spokesperson for the Roscosmos space agency said the launch is expected on February 24.
On Monday, the space agency said it had postponed the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, saying a supply ship docked at the International Space Station (ISS) had leaked coolant.
In September, the Soyuz MS-22 flew Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin, Sergei Prokopyev, and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the ISS.
Return of Russian astronauts in ISS
The astronauts were scheduled to return home in the same spaceship, but it began leaking coolant in December after being hit by what Russian and US space officials believe was a tiny space rock.
In January, Moscow announced sending an empty spacecraft to the ISS in February to bring home the three astronauts.
Last Monday, the spacecraft’s launch was postponed after another vessel- a Russian supply ship docked at the ISS, the Progress MS-21- leaked coolant, sparking concern.
Earlier on Saturday, the Russian space agency said that chief designers had now recommended that the launch of the rescue ship be set for 03:34 am (00:34 GMT) on February 24.
The space agency said that the Soyuz MS-23 had been carefully examined, and no damage had been found.
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Now a state commission has to sign off on the new date.
The Roscosmos official told AFP that the state commission was widely expected to approve the new launch date.
The Progress supply ship will be de-orbited on February 19, the space agency said in a separate statement.
