According to the information that Russian officials shared with the media, the last-week crash of an unmanned cargo vessel has prompted the delay of the launch of the country’s next mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

As per the details forwarded by the US and Russian space agency officials, though initial schedule for the launch of the next mission was September 22, it has now been delayed, at the earliest, to late October. Moreover, along with the delay in the launch, the return of three crew members from the ISS is also likely to be delayed.

The delayed launch of the next mission comes within days of Russia’s grounding of its fleet of Soyuz rockets; with investigators deciding to ascertain the cause of last week’s crash before giving the go ahead to further flights.

About the delay, a senior NASA official - Mike Suffredini, manager of the station program for the US space agency - emphasized that a final decision about the launch of the next mission is still to be taken. Suffredini also added that Russian experts were “cautiously optimistic” that the cause of the recent rocket failure will likely be determined and fixed in a little more than two months.

Meanwhile, Alexei Krasnov - an official-in-charge of manned flights at Russia's space agency – also reportedly told Interfax news agency that officials will need to “review all possibilities, including leaving the station unmanned” in case they fail to launch the next manned flight before the end of November.