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.