Russia’s federal space agency said today that an unmanned rocket and its payload of two communications satellites failed to reach orbit, the latest in a series of failures that has dogged Moscow’s space programme.

A three-man crew blasted off from a space centre in southern Kazakhstan on board a Russian-made Soyuz craft for a half-year stay at the International Space Station.

Russian authorities are using helicopters to search for the wreckage of an unmanned supply ship that crashed and exploded in a forest in Siberia.

An unmanned supply rocket bound for the International Space Station has failed to reach its planned orbit.

A revamped digital version of the venerable Russian Soyuz spacecraft has been winched into place at a launch pad for its second manned run to the International Space Station.

Russia will test a next-generation spacecraft, build a new launch site and even consider a manned mission to Mars, the nation’s space chief promised today.

A US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts have blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome for a two-day journey to the International Space Station.

RUSSIAN spy Anna Chapman has stripped off for a cover spread in a men’s magazine, striking a number of James Bond-style poses in her latest stunt since she left the United States.

A RUSSIAN rocket blasted off yesterday from southern Kazakhstan, transporting a Nasa astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station.

A Russian rocket carrying three astronauts blasted off in southern Kazakhstan today, kicking off a tightly packed schedule at the International Space Station in the coming days.

A Soyuz capsule carrying a Russian cosmonaut, an American astronaut and US billionaire space tourist Charles Simonyi has docked at the international space station.

A rocket carrying a Russian-American crew and a US billionaire space tourist on his second trip blasted off for the international space station today.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American millionaire and two astronauts docked safely with the international space station today.

Malaysia’s first astronaut, a Muslim, has vowed to keep praying and fasting in space.

A Russian Soyuz rocket was rolled on to the launch pad at Baikonur today in final preparation for the launch of a three-man crew to the international space station.

A US software billionaire who won a junior cosmonaut contest as a child in Communist-ruled Hungary returned from a dream voyage to the international space station today, riding a Russian capsule to a soft landing on the Kazakh steppe along with a Russian and an American who spent seven months in orbit.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying Simonyi and two Russian cosmonauts is to launch tonight from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Billionaire software engineer Charles Simonyi, on the verge of blasting off as the world’s fifth paying private space traveller, said today he hopes his journey will help develop civilian space flights.

An unmanned Russian cargo ship blasted off today for the international space station to deliver supplies and equipment to its three-man crew, space officials said.

An unmanned Russian cargo ship fully docked at the international space station today, after Mission Control solved a problem that had prevented the spacecraft from latching firmly onto the space outpost.

The capsule carrying the first paying female space tourist docked smoothly at the international space station today.

A Russian-built rocket carrying a new US-Russian crew and the world’s first female space tourist lifted off today and streaked into the cloudless sky over Kazakhstan, heading for the international space station.

A EUROPEAN space probe went into orbit around Venus yesterday after a 400 million kilometre journey to peer into its toxic atmosphere.

A Soyuz capsule docked with the international space station today, bringing Brazil’s first astronaut, a new Russian-American crew and a fresh load of supplies, equipment and experiments.

The Russian-US crew manning the International Space Station today began an operation to manoeuvre a capsule into a new dock to make way for a new team’s arrival next week.

An unmanned Russian cargo ship carrying supplies and Christmas gifts for the crew of the international space station blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, a Russian space agency spokesman said.

A Russian rocket roared into space today in a burst of flame, launching the world’s third space tourist, US millionaire scientist Gregory Olsen, and a US-Russian crew on a two-day trip to the international space station.

Nasa’s top official said today the future of US participation in Russian space flights was in doubt.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov today threatened retaliatory steps if any country deploys weapons in space, according to Russian news agencies.

A RUSSIAN cosmonaut and US astronaut got some belated Christmas turkey along with vital supplies yesterday when an unmanned cargo ship docked at the international space station, ending shortages that had forced the crew to ration dwindling supplies. The Progress M-51 faultlessly docked at the orbiting station on Christmas Day.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying two cosmonauts and an American astronaut docked Saturday at the international space station, where another Russian-US team has spent six months.

A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and an American astronaut to the international space station streaked into orbit today – another crew rotation in a Russian space vehicle filling in for US space shuttles.

RUSSIA yesterday indefinitely postponed the already much-delayed launch of a military satellite from the Baikonur cosmodrome for technical reasons, Russia’s Space Forces said.

A Russian spacecraft carrying a new crew docked smoothly with the international space station today, as US and Russian space officials on the ground argued over the conditions for future missions.

Russia successfully tested a prototype new weapon that can penetrate any prospective missile defences during this week’s military exercise, a senior general said today.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying British-born astronaut Michael Foale and two others blasted off today for the International Space Station from the Russian space programme’s cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A US-Russian crew stranded in space by the shuttle tragedy were found alive and well yesterday after losing radio contact on re-entry and landing 300 miles off target in the steppes of Kazakhstan.

AN American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut boarded a space station 250 miles above earth yesterday, relieving a three-man crew forced to stay an extra two months in space as a result of the US Columbia tragedy.

Russia’s Soyuz TMA-2 space capsule today successfully docked with the international space station and transferred US astronaut Edward Lu and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko.

A RUSSIAN cargo rocket carrying food and fuel blasted off for the International Space Station yesterday, a day after the US shuttle Columbia broke, killing seven astronauts.

A STUNNED world sent words of sorrow to grieving Americans after watching the dramatic break-up of the US space shuttle Columbia in the clear blue skies over Texas.

The break-up of the space shuttle Columbia on Saturday was the latest in a series of accidents since space exploration began in 1957 with the launch of the Soviet Sputnik satellite.

Ivan Pozdayev and his classmates at the International Space School in a Russian military enclave ignite a model rocket made from Coca-Cola bottles and grin as it soar high over the tree tops.

A Russian rocket, in which US pop star Lance Bass was hoping for a ride, lifted off from a launch site in the steppe today, carrying two cosmonauts and a Belgian astronaut to the international space station for an eight-day mission.