Russia decided to delay the return of their three cosmonauts who are currently aboard the International Space Station after the arrival failure of its cargo supply spacecraft. 

The three ISS crew members were scheduled to land today, Thursday, however has been postponed until early June according to space official Vladimir Solovyov. He also says that in order to replace the three cosmonauts, the replacement mission has been reset to July. 

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Just last week, the doomed Roscosmos' unmanned cargo resupply ship Progress M-27M already burnt up upon re-entry in the planet's atmosphere over the Pacific ocean.

Russian experts reveal that an initial investigation is being carried out and that the technical failure was rooted in the third stage of the Soyuz rocket launch vehicle. 

According to Solovyov who is also the flight head of the Russian segment of the ISS, the three cosmonauts already know about this delay. He adds that they have agreed to work in lower Earth orbit aboard the space laboratory for one month more, stating to Russian local news agencies.

Solovyov also confirms that another Progress spacecraft will be launched to the ISS after this delay and if all plans are carried out successfully, the new batch of astronauts will replace the ones at the space station in July.

To date, there are six crew members aboard the ISS, three Russians and two Americans along with an Italian.

Progress M-27M was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan last April 28 but lost all contact with mission control shortly after the launch.

The cargo resupply ship was supposed to deliver three tons of supplies for the ISS crew that included water, food, fuel and oxygen for the space station. When communications were lost, the spacecraft went out of control, floating in lower Earth orbit then went spiralling back to the planet, crashing and burning up in the atmosphere. 

Russian officials reassure that even if Progress was lost, the astronauts aboard the ISS will still have enough supplies to last them until the next resupply delivery.

The estimated cost loss of Progress is US $50.7 million according to Russian officials.

TagsISS, roscosmos, Progress M-27M, Russia, Russian astronauts return delay