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Glitch postpones first space flight from Russia's new launch-pad

Glitch postpones first space flight from Russia's new launch-pad

By REUTERS

An unmanned Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket headed for the International Space Station lifts off from the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. shortly before exploding on Tuesday, October 28, 2014. Photo: AP

A technical fault forced Russia's space agency on Wednesday to postpone at the last minute the inaugural launch of a rocket into space from its new Vostochny launch-pad, Russian media reported. An unmanned Soyuz rocket carrying three satellites had been scheduled to fire off into orbit from the Vostochny site, which was built to end Russia's reliance on the Baikonur cosmodrome in neighbouring Kazakhstan. Moments before the scheduled launch time, officials at the launch-site, in Russia's far eastern Amur region, announced a postponement until Thursday morning, citing technical problems, Interfax news agency reported.