Press room

Canadian Space Agency Statement on Soyuz Launch Abort

The following is a statement about Thursday's Soyuz launch abort to the International Space Station:

Today, a Soyuz spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. Shortly after launch, there was an anomaly with the booster and the launch ascent was aborted, resulting in a ballistic landing of the spacecraft.

The crew who were aboard, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin, are in good condition. They are en route to the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, outside Moscow.

The Canadian Space Agency is monitoring the situation. Safety of the crew is the utmost priority for all space agencies. A thorough investigation into the cause of the incident will be conducted by Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. It is not known whether this will affect Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques' launch date of December 20, 2018.

- 30 -