科技英语新闻:Russia to test launch Soyuz rockets before delivering ISS crews: reports

MOSCOW, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia will carry out two unmanned test launches of Soyuz carrier rockets in the coming fall before delivering crews to the International Space Station (ISS), local media reported on Friday.

Citing a source, RIA Novosti news agency said that one of the Soyuz rockets was scheduled to send a new Progress M-13M space freighter to the ISS.

On Wednesday, a Progress M-12M cargo ship failed to reach the orbit after the engine of a Soyuz-U carrier rocket turned off during the ascend. Soon after the accident, Russia announced it will temporarily ground all Soyuz rockets.

Due to the accident, Russian space authorities have put off Thursday's launch of a Soyuz-2 carrier rocket from the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia and a launch of a manned space ship from Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan.

After the retirement of the U.S. shuttle fleet, Russia's Soyuz spacecrafts have become the only way for astronauts to reach the ISS until at least the middle of the decade.