Russia suspends manned space program after Soyuz rocket makes emergency landing

Russia has suspended its manned space program on Thursday until the investigation is pending into the rocket failure, ANI reported.

The suspension comes after earlier on Thursday a Russian Soyuz rocket, carrying two-man Russian-American crew, malfunctioned and made an emergency landing in Kazhakstan.

“Astronaut Nick Hague of NASA and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin of the Russian space agency Roscosmos launched at 4:40 a.m. Eastern time aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. There was an issue with the booster from today’s launch. The Soyuz capsule has landed back on Earth carrying two crew members. The crew are in good condition and in contact. Search and rescue teams are en route to the landing location and we await further updates,” said NASA in a statement.

“The Soyuz capsule is returning to Earth via a ballistic descent, which is a sharper angle of landing compared to normal. Search and rescue teams are heading towards the expected touchdown location of the spacecraft and crew,” tweeted NASA.

The rocket took off from Kazakhstan and was on its way to the International Space Station.