Russia’s space agency aborts launch of 3 astronauts to the International Space Station; all are safe

By The Associated Press on March 21, 2024.

MOSCOW (AP) – Russia’s Roscosmos space agency aborted the launch of three astronauts to the International Space Station about 20 seconds before they were scheduled to lift off Thursday, but the crew was safe, officials said.

The Russian Soyuz rocket was to carry NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson, Oleg Novitsky of Roscosmos and Marina Vasilevskaya of Belarus from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan.

The launch was aborted by an automatic safety system. No cause was immediately given, but NASA said the crew was safe.