MOSCOW — With President Vladimir Putin looking on, Russia’s space agency postponed the inaugural launch of a rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East on Wednesday (April 27), citing an unspecified, last-minute technical glitch.

The unmanned Soyuz rocket carrying three satellites was due to blast off in the morning from the new launch site, which has been plagued by scandals over embezzlement, unpaid wages and construction delays.

Mr Putin had flown to the space centre to watch the liftoff and planned to stay an extra day — until at least Thursday morning — when technicians will try again to launch the rocket, the Russian news media reported. But there were indications there might be further delays.

“Russia remains a leader in the number of launches, it is a fact, this is good,” Mr Putin said at a meeting with space officials broadcast on state television. “But we encounter a large number of mishaps. This is bad, and there should be a professional and prompt reaction.”

The officials indicated at the meeting that they would have to discuss whether the launch would go ahead Thursday or be further delayed.

This was not the first time Russia’s space programme has suffered a technical problem with Mr Putin serving as a prominent spectator. In June 2014, the launch of a new rocket was aborted on live television, with Mr Putin watching.

The Kremlin built the new Vostochny site to reduce Russia’s dependence on the Soviet-era Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is in Kazakhstan. NEW YORK TIMES