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The Russian Progress M-27M cargo ship, carrying almost three
tonnes (2,722 kg) of supplies, burned up in the Earth's
atmosphere last week after ground crews lost control of the
freighter shortly after it launched on April 28.
A preliminary investigation showed the third stage of the Soyuz
rocket used to launch the Progress cargo ship separated early,
Roscosmos head Igor Komarov said, leaving the capsule about 13
miles (20 km) short of its intended altitude.
"There was an unintended separation of the carrier rocket," he
said.
A team of three International Space Station (ISS) crew members,
who had been scheduled to leave the station later this week,
will now return to Earth in June, Tass news agency reported.
The next Progress resupply shuttle to the ISS has also been
delayed until the beginning of July and a manned mission to the
space station will launch a few weeks later, Roscosmos said in a
statement.
The space agency said it would present the final results of its
investigation on May 22.
(Reporting by Jack Stubbs and Gleb Stolyarov, Editing by Timothy
Heritage)
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