Results of examination of Soyuz-FG failure site samples to be announced Oct 16 - Official
As reported earlier, the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket aborted after its launch from Gagarinskiy launch pad at Baikonur cosmodrome. The manned spacecraft carried Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Hague to the ISS. The descent capsule with the crew landed 25 km away from Zhezkazgan, Karaganda region.
Two governmental commissions were established under the Kazakh-Russian intergovernmental treaty, Marat Nurguzhin said. From the Kazakh side the commission is headed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and from the Russian side – by Roscosmos State Corporation.
“Both commissions have already begun investigating the causes of the abortive launch. Besides, emergency maintenance crews of Kazcosmos and Roscosmos are working in the area where the rocket fell. They have already gathered air and soil samples and checked radiation in the area.. No destructions and victims were reported. Radiation background in the area is stable. All required examinations have already been conducted in Zhezkazgan, in the laboratory of Garysh-Ecology centre. The results of the tests will be announced today,” he said.
Besides, according to Nurguzhin, the Ministry of Energy and Kazcosmos will analyze the ecological damage of the accident.
The launch of Soyuz carrier rockets will be postponed till the end of the year, he added. “Roscosmos will inform our Government and Kazcosmos of the causes of the accident and further fate of the next year’s launches. I think that after we find out these causes and eliminate the damage, we will continue our space program at Baikonur,” he said.