MOSCOW, October 27. /TASS/. The launch of the Soyuz MS-03 space vehicle to the International Space Station (ISS) has been postponed till November 17, the website of the spacecraft’s manufacturer, corporation Energia has said.
"A meeting of chief designers approved the proposals for returning a crew of three on board the Soyuz-MS vehicle on October 30, 2016, for future works to get the Soyuz MS-03 space vehicle ready for launch on November 17, 2016 and for the delivery of the main mission’s crew of three to the ISS," the report says.
The Soyuz MS-3 will take to the ISS Russia’s Oleg Novitsky, European astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA’s Peggy Wilson. Originally, the launch was scheduled for November 16.
A source in the space rocket industry told TASS on Thursday that the launch might take place at 23:20 Moscow time on November 17 and the docking with the ISS, at about 01:00 on November 20.
Earlier, the Russian space corporation Roscosmos told TASS the government commission would make a decision on the date of the Soyuz MS-03 launch on October 28.
The Soyuz MS vehicle will bring back Russia’s Anatoly Ivanishin, Japan’s Takuya Onishi and US astronaut Kathleen Rubins.