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Problem with navigation system's amplifier might have caused MS 14's aborted docking

Another automated docking might be attempted after 48 hours, on 26 August 2019

© Russian space agency Roscosmos/TASS archive

MOSCOW, August 24. /TASS/. The aborted docking of the Soyuz MS-14 spaceship might be caused by a problem with an amplifier of the Kurs navigation system located on the International Space Station (ISS), a NASA announcer said during a live broadcast on Saturday.

"The problem that prevented the automated docking of MS-14 is the problem not with the Soyuz system but rather with the course system on the station site," the announcer said.

He specified that the astronauts could not dock the ship in manual mode due to the lack of the necessary system on board the Soyuz.

Russian space agency Roscosmos reported that there is no threat to the International Space Station (ISS) and its crew as a result of the unsuccessful docking.

Another automated docking might be attempted after 48 hours, on 26 August 2019.

The spacecraft with the robot on its board was set to dock with the International Space Station at 08:31 Moscow time on August 24 after a two-day flight.

From 2002, Russia used Soyuz-FG carrier rockets to deliver international crews to the orbital outpost. From 2020, Russia is set to switch to Soyuz-2.1a rockets, which previously delivered only freight spaceships and satellites into orbit. The launch on August 22 is a test blastoff before a manned mission to the International Space Station.

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