Russia’s Mission Control has failed to stabilise a cargo ship spinning out of control in orbit and it is plunging back to Earth.

A RUSSIAN spacecraft carrying an American and two Russians blasted off yesterday from the snow-covered Kazakh steppes in a faultless launch that eased anxiety about the future of US and Russian space programmes.

A Russian spacecraft carrying an American and two Russians has blasted off successfully from the Kazakh steppes on a mission to the International Space Station.