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.

Astronauts today gave the space shuttle a four-and-a-half hour inspection using cameras on the orbiter’s robotic arm early to see if its heat shield was damaged by a mysterious object that apparently floated off the spacecraft.

NASA yesterday postponed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis on a mission to restart construction of the International Space Station after a fuel sensor failed, officials said.