Moscow ( CNN ) -- The Russian space agency on Monday postponed the launch of a new manned mission to the International Space Station due to last week 's accident in which an unmanned cargo craft was lost , the state news agency RIA Novosti reported . Alexei Krasnov of the space agency , Roscosmos , said the next manned mission , originally planned to launch on September 22 , now would occur in late October or early November , according to the RIA Novosti report . In the United States , NASA 's space station program manager told reporters Monday that the timing of the rescheduled mission could force the temporary de-manning of the space station later this year . However , the NASA official , Mike Suffredini , said no decisions can be made until a commission appointed by Russia completes its investigation of the August 24 crash involving a Soyuz rocket -- the same kind used to power the flights of crew members to the space station . With a planned rotation of the six crew members aboard the space station scheduled to begin next month , a delay in using the Soyuz could prevent the ability to bring replacements , Suffredini said . `` If we do n't have Soyuz flying by the middle of November -- the 16th or so , the normal landing time for the last crew -- we would have to de-man ISS at that point , '' Suffredini said . The six astronauts at the space station are three from Russia , two from the United States and one from Japan . Due to the schedule change announced Monday , the three Russian astronauts on board will return to Earth eight days later than originally planned , on September 16 instead of September 8 , Krasnov said . They will fly a Soyuz vehicle already at the space station . Suffredini said another Soyuz vehicle at the space station , which is set to fly back the other three crew members , will have its certification for the return mission expire by mid-November . If there ca n't be a new manned mission from Earth by then , administrators will have to decide whether to take extensive steps to extend the vehicle 's certification for the return flight , proceed on a return flight without certification , or de-man the space station by flying back the remaining crew members within the certification period , he said . `` We 're going to do what 's safest for the crew and for the space station , '' Suffredini said . He acknowledged that leaving the space station without any crew members increased the risk for trouble . `` There is a greater risk of losing the ISS when it 's unmanned than if it were manned , '' Suffredini said , adding that the risk increase `` is not insignificant . '' The commission in Russia investigating last week 's accident will determine the new launch date for the next manned mission , Krasnov said , according to the RIA Novosti report . Prior to that mission , Roscosmos will make two unmanned Soyuz launches , `` either an automated one or a freighter or both , '' he said . On August 24 , a Progress M-12M space freighter carrying food and other items to the space station broke up over southern Siberia after failing to separate from its Soyuz-U carrier rocket , RIA Novosti reported . It was the first loss of a Progress freighter in more than 30 years of operation , according to the report , which said the cause was believed to be a rocket engine failure . However , it was the second failed space launch in Russia in less than 10 days . On August 18 , Russia lost a sophisticated Express-AM4 telecommunications satellite when the launch vehicle put it into the wrong orbit . The Progress M-12M that went down last week was to deliver more than 3.8 tons of cargo to the space station crew , including food supplies , medical equipment , personal hygiene items and scientific equipment needed for experiments , according to Roscosmos and space officials . Suffredini said Monday that space station crew is well-supplied due to the delivery of goods by the final U.S. shuttle mission carried out by Atlantis last month . NASA is now reliant on the Russian space agency to ferry U.S. astronauts to orbit , since the grounding of the U.S. shuttle fleet has left the United States with no way to lift humans into space . Plans are in the works for private companies to begin shipping cargo to the station , and eventually to carry astronauts as well . CNN 's Tom Cohen contributed to this report .
September : A NASA official announces the space station may have to be re - manned . The mission originally scheduled for September 22 will occur weeks later . The announcement follows last year 's loss of a Russian supply vessel .