Russian space chief: No flaws found in rockets

[October 07, 2011]  MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's space chief says that an inspection has found no flaws in a batch of rocket engines similar to the one that has caused a crash of an unmanned cargo ship and raised doubts about future missions to the International Space Station.

With NASA's space shuttles retired as of July, Russia's Soyuz rocket is the only means of getting astronauts to and from the space station. The Soyuz that failed in August is similar to the ones used to launch astronauts. The crash was blamed on an "accidental" manufacturing flaw.

Russian Space Agency head Vladimir Popovkin said Friday that a check of rocket engines of the same batch has found no faults.

The next Soyuz launches have been postponed pending the outcome of the probe. Popovkin said a cargo ship will be launched on Oct. 30 and a manned mission will follow on Nov. 14.

[Associated Press]

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