MOSCOW: Russia's space agency said it had to refigure communications with civilian satellites and the International Space Station yesterday after a cable broke outside Moscow, but that the satellites and the station were operating normally.

The space agency, Roskosmos, offered assurances after state-run news agency RIA cited an unnamed source as saying Russia lost the ability to control most of its civilian satellites and send commands to its segment of the space station.

"The cable break ... is not affecting the functioning of Russian satellites and the International Space Station," Roskosmos spokesman Alexei Kuznetsov said. He said the agency was able to communicate with the satellites and control them.

Kuznetsov said a cable had broken during work by a construction company at an unspecified site east of Moscow.

RIA had cited its source as saying the broken cable would not be repaired for at least 48 hours and that the problem could delay problem could delay the departure of a Russian, an American and a Japanese astronaut from the station, scheduled for Nov. 19.

Kuznetsov said the incident had not affected plans for their undocking from the station and return to Earth.

The RIA report, citing as separate source, said military satellites had not been affected.

Russia's space agency says a communications cable serving mission control was cut by construction workers but that the accident has not affected control of the International Space Station or civilian satellites.

Russian news agencies cited unnamed sources as saying the Tuesday cut meant controllers could not send commands to satellites or the Russian segments of the orbiting space lab. But Alexei Kuznetsov, a spokesman for the Roscosmos space agency, says communications were continuing by other means, which he did not specify.

A Soyuz space capsule is to ferry three astronauts from the station back to Earth on Monday. Kuznetsov says the accident did not affect that plan.

The Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed Defense Ministry official as saying military satellites were under control.