26 Sep 2014 15:10

Roscosmos intends to discover reason for Soyuz solar panel problem shortly

BAIKONUR (Kazakhstan). Sept 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A solar panel on the Soyuz TMA-14M manned spaceship which blasted off from Baikonur in the early morning hours of Friday has unfolded, although with some delay, Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) head Oleg Ostapenko told reporters.

As to the possible reasons why the Soyuz solar panel was slow to unfold, he said, "I'd rather not put the cart before the horse. We are holding an inquiry. I have designated a group to deal with this matter. We will know the reason soon."

"The preparatory process and the launch went ahead normally, there were no abnormalities whatsoever," he said.