MOSCOW, Sept 9 (Reuters) - A production fault that cut off the fuel supply caused the crash of an unmanned spacecraft last month that has grounded launches to the International Space Station, Russia's space agency said on Friday.
Roskosmos said an investigation into the Progress supply craft’s crash on Aug. 24 found that a blockage in the motor of the upper-stage Soyuz rocket had prevented fuel reaching the gas generator, causing the engine to shut down.
It made clear that more checks would be required on similar rockets before any decision was taken to resume launches to the manned space station.
"The (investigative) commission members concluded that the production fault that has been identified happened by chance," it said in a statement. "However a decision on whether it was a one-off failure can be taken only after further checks."
Russia postponed a manned mission to the station that had been planned for Sept. 22 after the Progress craft, carrying fuel and food supplies to the orbiting research laboratory, failed to reach orbit and burnt up in the atmosphere.
Space officials say any long delay until the next launch might force them to consider leaving the station unmanned for the first time in a decade.
There are now three Russians, two Americans and a Japanese on board the International Space Station, an orbiting research laboratory which is a $100-billion project involving six countries.
The next launch of crew to the station will be the first since the U.S. space agency NASA retired its 30-year shuttle programme in July. This has caused concern at NASA as it now relies entirely on Russian craft to send people into space.
