The orbit of a Russian space freighter will be adjusted twice on Saturday to ensure a successful docking with the International Space Station on Sunday, a source at the Mission Control Center told RIA Novosti.
Friday's docking for the Progress M-06M has been aborted due to a loss of telemetry. Flight controllers reported the resupply craft flew past the International Space Station. The spacecraft was about 2 km from the station when the system received a signal to stop approaching the ISS.
The source said the Progress M-06M had been transferred into the so-called rotation mode that makes the active operation impossible. This mode helps charge the spacecraft's battery since the Progress entered the shadow zone.
Vitaly Davydov, a deputy chief of the Russian Federal Space Agency, earlier said that the orbit currently occupied by Progress spacecraft did not allow controlling the spacecraft's flight.
The new docking attempt will be again carried out in the automated mode, he added.
The Progress M-06M was launched from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on a Soyuz-U carrier rocket on Wednesday night.
The space freighter carries fuel, oxygen, scientific equipment and video and photo equipment to the ISS, as well as food, water and personal items for the 6-men crew of the orbital station.