An ISS Progress resupply vehicle approaches the International Space Station last year. Photo: AP

Moscow: Russia's space agency has managed to restart the engines of the Progress spacecraft on the second attempt, and correct the orbit of the International Space Station.

The manoeuvre was first tried on Friday - the botched restart is the latest in a series of embarrassing failures for Russia's space industry.

"On Sunday night, the orbit of the ISS was successfully corrected," Roscosmos told Russian news agencies.

The ISS is now at the right altitude for its three crew members to return to Earth next month.

Advertisement

Last week Russia lost a Mexican telecommunications satellite because of the failed launch of Proton-M carrier rocket in Kazakhstan.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev immediately launched an inquiry after the satellite incident, demanding answers from the head of the space agency, Igor Komarov, and suggesting heads could roll.

Russia fired the head of its space agency last year after a series of failures.

AFP

Follow FairfaxForeign on Twitter