Progress failure to dock at ISS in another blow to Russia’s programme

Progress M 27 cargo spacecraft

Progress failure: Russia has written off its RUB 2.6bn ($51m) mission to  deliver supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), in another setback for the country’s beleaguered space program. The unmanned Progress M-27M cargo ship, carrying almost three tons of fuel, food, oxygen and equipment for scientific experiments, was unable to dock with the ISS because of problems after it launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on Tuesday, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov has confirmed. 
Industrial disputes and accusations of corruption have plagued the construction of the flagship Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East and Roscosmos announced last week it was cutting spending by more than a third over the next 10 years because of the country’s economic crisis.