According to Roscosmos officials today, they have convened an investigation panel to identify what went wrong, but are also looking at the possibility of moving up the next flight, assuming the cause is identified promptly.

Roscosmos does not anticipate (at least as of today) the Progress failure to affect the next Soyuz crewed launch in May as it uses a different type of rocket.

Engineers ready the Progress M-27M spacecraft for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (RSC Energia)

The nose cone of the Soyuz carrier rocket has the symbols of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet campaign against Nazi Germany, namely the Order of the Patriotic War and Saint George's Ribbon.

Several Saint George's Ribbons for the crew of the station have been sent to the ISS aboard the Progress spacecraft. This comes in preparation for the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of Victory.

The space agency's update doesn't predict a reentry point, but notes that all of the Progress will burn up in the atmosphere, with the possible exception of some small structural pieces. The latest prediction from the Aerospace Corporation suggests a reentry over the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa.

"Progress M-27M ceased to exist," Roscosmos stated on its website, adding that the spacecraft met its end on the 160th orbit around the planet. It was not immediately clear if the report was based on observed data or predictions.

U.S. Strategic Command gave a re-entry time of 9:20 p.m. CDT (0220 GMT) over the South Pacific to the west of the southern tip of South America.

I would say this is becoming a concern, but the management and quality control problems throughout Russia's space program have been evident for a long time now.

Other than their both being made in Russia, the Proton and Soyuz rockets are separate vehicles manufactured in different cities. Lumping them together and then trying to draw conclusions about the Soyuz spacecraft (or Soyuz booster used to launch it) doesn't really present an accurate portrayal of the situation.

I actually support Russia inspite of all the rhetoric regarding certain other issues. Talk of a return to flight is expected but not blase. Eventually less and less customers will trust their expensive payloads to a Proton that crashes and burns with alarming regularity.

The Russian government committed earlier this year to accelerating completion of the the Vostochny Cosmodrome, though it will still be a number of years (I believe 2021 is the target) until Angara flies from there.

In the meantime, Proton at Baikonur is still needed.

The Soyuz rocket is built by TsSKB-Progress, separate from Khrunichev, so trying to use the Proton failure to draw conclusions about the future or safety of Soyuz seems, at best, simplified.

quote:

---

Originally posted by issman1:
...a Proton that crashes and burns with alarming regularity.

---

"A design peculiarity in the joint use of the spaceship and the rocket related to the frequency-dynamic characteristics of the linkage between the spaceship and the rocket's third stage is the cause for the damage done to the spaceship as a result of the emergency separation of the carrier rocket's third stage and the transport spacecraft," Roscosmos said.

According to the state commission, this peculiarity was not taken into full account during the design work for the development of this rocket and space complex.

Roscosmos is now elaborating a plan of measures for the complex's further flight tests, the press office said.

"No limitations on the further operation of Soyuz-2.1a carrier rockets with other spacecraft have been revealed," Roscosmos said.

The adjusted schedule of launches under the program of manned flights, including space freighter launches, will be specified on June 9, Roscosmos said.