Russia will launch a three-man crew to the international space station on Oct. 11, two days later than initially scheduled due to problems with the docking system, the Itar-Tass news agency reported Wednesday.
Russia's space agency announced the delay, which apparently involved a faulty explosive bolt, last week. However, they did not fix a new launch date at that time.
The blastoff in a Soyuz spacecraft from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will send up a replacement crew for Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and NASA astronaut Michael Fincke, who have manned the orbital platform since April.
Russian Salizhan Sharipov and NASA's Leroy Chiao will live on the station for the next six months. They will be joined in the launch craft by Yuri Shargin, a lieutenant-colonel from Russia's space forces, who will spend 10 days in orbit before returning to Earth with the outgoing crew.
Russian spacecraft have been the only link to the space station since February 2003, when NASA grounded its shuttle fleet after one craft disintegrated on re-entry, killing the seven astronauts aboard.