The Souyuz craft bearing the name of pioneering Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin had been due to take off from Russia's Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan on March 30.

But the manned flight may have to be delayed due to technical problems with the craft, Interfax quoted a Russian space industry official as saying.

"Today we will have a state committee meeting that will examine a new date for the manned flight," the news agency quoted its source as saying. "The cause is of a technical nature."