Russian space boss in bid to fulfill ISS commitments

Russia's space agency Roscosmos is discussing proposals on how to fulfil the country's obligations to the International Space Station (ISS), after Wednesday's accident in which a Russian Progress M-12M space freighter launch failed. Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin held an overnight meeting with senior Roscosmos officials to discuss the failed liftoff, and has asked his agency to come up with a plan for supporting the ISS. The space freighter, carrying supplies to the ISS, fell in South Siberia's Altai Republic after failing to separate from its Soyuz-U carrier rocket, the first loss of a Progress freighter in the history of Russia's space industry. A rocket engine failure is believed to have caused the accident. Russia could fail to fulfill its obligations to deliver crews to the ISS after Wednesday's accident, a source in Russia's space industry claimed. "Scheduled [Soyuz] rocket launches are likely to be suspended because of the space freighter accident... until the reasons [for the accident] are established," the source said.