Soyuz

A replacement for a damaged Russian Soyuz crew ferry spacecraft docked at the International Space Station Saturday night, two days after launching from Kazakhstan on a mission to give two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut a ride back to Earth later this year.

A Russian Soyuz crew ferry ship blasted off from Kazakhstan Thursday, kicking off an unpiloted but critical flight to the International Space Station to replace a damaged Soyuz and provide an eventual ride home for three of the lab’s crew members.

Two months after a coolant leak disabled a Soyuz crew ferry spacecraft at the International Space Station, Russia’s space agency launched of a replacement vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan Thursday, and the craft docked at the station at 7:58 p.m. EST Saturday (0058 GMT Sunday). The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft launched without any people on-board, and will serve as a lifeboat and ride home for a three-man space station crew later this year.

Russia’s space agency said Tuesday that preliminary data suggest a coolant leak on a Progress cargo freighter docked at the International Space Station earlier this month was caused by “external influences” — possibly something that occurred during its launch last year, according to a senior NASA space station manager.

Launch of a Russian Soyuz crew capsule to replace a damaged ferry ship docked at the International Space Station is being delayed in the wake of a second incident that resulted in similar damage to a Progress cargo ship, a senior official said Monday.