Russia grounds rockets after loss of space freighter

Russia has grounded its fleet of Soyuz rockets after an unmanned spacecraft carrying cargo for the space station crashed shortly following lift-off.



Investigators want to determine the cause of the accident before moving ahead with any further flights.



The halt could delay a manned launch from Kazakhstan currently scheduled for September.



Emergency workers are using helicopters to search for wreckage of the Progress supply craft in Siberia.



"A decision has been taken to halt the launch of Soyuz carrier rockets until the reasons for the accident become clear," the AFP news agency reported an unnamed Russian official as saying.



On Wednesday, the Russian space agency said the Progress M-12M cargo ship was not placed in the correct orbit by its rocket and fell back to Earth.



The first and second stages (sections) of the Soyuz-FG space rocket used for manned launches differ from those of the Soyuz-U which carries the Progress frieghter, but the third stage is identical in both rockets.



The next manned flight to the ISS - currently staffed by a six-person multinational crew - is scheduled for 22 September and a cargo vessel with new supplies is due to fly to the space station on 28 October.