Cargo ship launch clears crewed mission to space station

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian Soyuz rocket has put a cargo ship en route to the International Space Station, clearing the way for the next crewed mission.

Friday's launch of the Progress MS-10 resupply ship from Baikonur in Kazakhstan marked the fourth successful liftoff of a Soyuz since last month's aborted crew launch.

A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos' Alexei Ovchinin failed two minutes into its flight on Oct. 11, activating an automatic rescue system that ensured a safe landing of their capsule. An official probe has blamed a sensor damaged during the rocket's final assembly.

Since the mishap, two Soyuz rockets were launched successfully from Plesetsk in northwestern Russia. Another lifted off from French Guiana. The next crew's launch is set for December.