Moscow - Russia said it was in full contact with its Soyuz spaceship and the International Space Station on Thursday after a brief loss of contact, Interfax news agency reported.
Russia's mission control had lost communication with the Soyuz for approximately six hours, Interfax reported, quoting an unnamed source in the space industry.
The Soyuz spaceship blasted off on Wednesday carrying an American, a Russian and an Italian astronaut to the International Space Station.
“At the current time there is a sustainable connection between the Krasnoznamenski (military satellite control centre) and Korolyov (Space central command),” the news agency reported Defence Ministry spokesperson Alexei Zolotukhin as saying.
The Russian Soyuz TMA-20 capsule was expected to dock at the space station on Thursday at 23h12 Moscow time (20h12 GMT).
The Soyuz flight is one of the last before the United States retires its reusable Discovery shuttles, leaving astronauts completely dependent on Russian craft for missions to space. - Reuters