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The Russian spacecraft that went rogue yesterday may have already begun an unstoppable descent into Earth's atmosphere, an official has claimed.

Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, is trying to save the unmanned Progress M-27M spacecraft after a major malfunction caused it to spin out of control.

But the anonymous source claimed that the spacecraft had 'nowhere else to go' apart from back into Earth's atmosphere and 'uncontrollable reactions' had begun.

Nasa reported that a video camera on Progress showed it to be spinning at a 'rather significant rate'

Speaking ahead of an official Roscosmos statement expected later today, the source told AFP: 'It has started descending. It has nowhere to go.

'It is clear that absolutely uncontrollable reactions have begun.'

And it emerged yesterday that officials were also struggling to contact the spacecraft, meaning they could not be sure what the problem was - or how to resolve it.

Progress is not designed to be able to return to Earth, so if it does re-enter Earth's atmosphere, it's likely most of it would burn up during the intense heat of re-entry.

The cargo spacecraft was due to dock with the ISS six hours after taking off from Kazakhstan yesterday at 8:09am BST (3:09am EDT), bringing 2.5 tons of supplies including food.

But shortly after launching, an unknown glitch caused the spacecraft to begin spinning wildly out of control, as seen in dramatic footage that showed Earth rotating past the camera. 

Flight controllers were unable to receive data from the spacecraft, which appeared to have entered the wrong orbit. 

While Russia's Mission Control has failed to stabilise the ship so far, it says it has not yet given up on saving the unmanned spacecraft. 

Mission Control spokesman Sergei Talalasov told the Interfax news agency on Wednesday that flight controllers were still trying to restore communication with the Progress.

Russia's space agency and Nasa both said the six crew members on board the orbiting space station have sufficient supplies and are in no danger.

A secondary docking date tomorrow had been proposed, but as the spacecraft is still out of control this seems unlikely.  

Roscosmos' problems began shortly after a Russian Soyuz 2-1A rocket launched the latest Progress resupply vehicle to the ISS. 'Almost immediately after spacecraft separation, a series of telemetry problems were detected with the Progress 59,' a Nasa spokesperson said during a televised broadcast from Mission Control

It is unclear how long the Progress could keep orbiting the Earth while Russian flight controllers triy to stabilise the craft and restore the system that allows them to send and receive data.

Because of the loss of connection, the flight controllers were unable to confirm the deployment of the navigational antennas needed for docking, Nasa and a duty officer at Russia's Mission Control said.

The Progress is carrying about 2.5 tons of cargo, including fuel, equipment, oxygen and food, to the space station, which currently has a six-person crew from Russia, the United States and Italy.

The cargo ship also is delivering a copy of the Banner of Victory, the banner raised over the Reichstag in Berlin by victorious Soviet soldiers in 1945. Russia is planning extensive celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. 

Spaceship spins out of control on way to Int Space Station

Roscosmos will try to make contact with the spacecraft tonight as it makes another series of passes over Russian ground stations. Docking with the ISS has been abandoned for now

Roscosmos' problems began shortly after a Russian Soyuz 2-1A rocket launched the Progress resupply vehicle.

Orbital data was due to be sent from a Russian Ground Site, allowing for a eight 'rendezvous burns' to be performed over the next five hours of flight.

But, once Progress had arrived on orbit, only confirmation of its solar array deployment and some of the navigational antennas were made.

Meanwhile, Nasa's Mission Control reported that a video camera on Progress showed it to be spinning at a 'rather significant rate.'

The dizzying footage, which was taken from the Progress 59 spacecraft, shows the Earth and sun moving in and out of the frame.

'Almost immediately after spacecraft separation, a series of telemetry problems were detected with the Progress 59,' Nasa spokesperson Rob Navias said during a televised broadcast from Mission Control.

'No confirmation of navigational antenna deploy or of the pressurisation of the manifold system for the propulsion system on the spacecraft was received.'

Russian spacecraft, including those used to send astronauts to the ISS, recently have acquired the capability to take a more direct six-hour route to the orbiting outpost.

But they still have the option of the longer, traditional route lasting two days.

'The crew on board the International Space Station has pressed ahead with maintenance work today as well as biomedical experiment activities,' said Navias.

The dizzying footage (pictured), which was taken from the Progress 59 spacecraft, shows the Earth and sun moving in and out of the frame

The spacecraft was scheduled to dock with the International Space Station six hours after take off, but that plan has now been 'indefinitely abandoned'.  Pictured left is a cargo ship in the same family, Progress M-59, as seen from the International Space Station (right) during docking

Progress M-27M suffered the major malfunction moments after launch at 3:09 a.m. EDT (07:09 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan

'Both the Russian and USOS segments of the station continue to operate normally and are adequately supplied well beyond the next planned resupply flight,' Nasa said in a statement. 

Aside from Progress, there are several other cargo spacecraft available for the ISS.

Two have been taken out of service in the last year - Esa retired its unmanned vehicle, the ATV, while Nasa's other supplier, Orbital Sciences, is still grounded following a launch explosion last October at Virginia.

However, SpaceX's Dragon capsule recently successfully carried cargo to the station, and Japan's HTV is scheduled to take more cargo into orbit later this year - alongside regular Progress flights.

So while the potential loss of an entire load of supplies on Progress is a serious blow to the International Space Station, it is not detrimental to the crew on board.

The cargo ship launched this morning on a Soyuz 2-1A rocket (pictured).  Progress is carrying about 2.5 tons of cargo, including fuel, equipment, oxygen and food, to the space station, which currently has a six-person crew from Russia, the United States and Italy