Russian Soyuz Rocket Failure Caused by Damaged Sensor: Investigation

Russian Soyuz Rocket Failure Caused by Damaged Sensor: Investigation
The Soyuz 2.1b rocket carrying a military spacecraft takes off from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk region, Russia, on Oct. 25, 2018. Russian Defence Ministry Press Service/Handout via Reuters
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MOSCOW—The abortive launch last month of a manned Soyuz mission to space was caused by a sensor damaged during the rocket’s assembly at the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Russian investigators said on Nov. 1.

A Russian cosmonaut and U.S. astronaut were forced to scrap their mission on Oct. 11, after a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS) failed, sending them plunging back to Earth in an emergency landing.