A manned Soyuz spacecraft will lift off early on Wednesday in the first launch of the Russian rocket since the catastrophic explosion of a similar rocket that destroyed a scientific satellite. The first use of a new Soyuz cosmonaut capsule will add further tension to the launch.
On 15 October an unmanned Soyuz-U booster exploded seconds after launch at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The blast and falling debris killed one Russian soldier and injured eight more on the ground.
The cause of the accident has been ascribed to an 鈥渁lien object鈥� being present in the engine. Russian Space agency chief Yuri Koptev has said that sabotage could not yet be ruled out.
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The craft that will take off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0311 GMT on Wednesday is from the same family of launchers, but a newer design called Soyuz FG. It will carry two Russian cosmonauts and a Belgian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS).
The Soyuz FG was designed specifically to accommodate the new capsule, Soyuz TMA. It has made three flights so far, all since the May 2001 and all delivering unmanned ISS supply modules.
Wednesday鈥檚 launch was originally scheduled for 28 October but was delayed to allow a full investigation into the cause of the Soyuz-U accident.
Safety checks
Investigators believe that one of the booster鈥檚 first stage engines malfunctioned after an 鈥渁lien object鈥� got into one of the engine鈥檚 hydrogen peroxide pipes. A design flaw has been ruled out. Had it not, the whole Soyuz launcher fleet would have been grounded for comprehensive safety checks.
James Oberg, a space industry analyst, says all the launchers used to put cosmonauts in space undergo more rigorous safety checks than those used for unmanned missions. He says the Soyuz FG will have gone through additional safety procedures ahead of Wednesday鈥檚 launch.
He told New Scientist: 鈥淭he man-related Soyuz launcher costs almost twice as much as the standard booster. This cost consists of more checks and more careful selection of components.鈥�
The new capsule features many modifications over the older Soyuz TM, but has mainly been designed to carry larger astronauts. While the older capsule can accommodate only half of NASA鈥檚 current astronauts, the new model will be able to carry nine out of 10.
The Soyuz FG crew has undergone special training to allow it to pilot the new Soyuz capsule, as well as the older type of Soyuz currently docked to the ISS.