The failure of an unmanned Russian rocket to reach the International Space Station, and its subsequent crash into Siberia, has raised questions about the Russian technology that is now considered the main link to space.

The Progress supply ship failed to reach its planned orbit on Wednesday, and it was later revealed that the rocket crashed in a remote region of Siberia.

The crash reportedly caused windows to break in a 100-kilometre radius.

With the retirement of NASA's shuttle program in July, NASA is relying on the Russian rockets, as well as Japan and Europe, to keep the ISS stocked up, said Randy Attwood, managing editor of Space Quarterly.

"Now that the shuttles aren't flying the six people who are up there all the time depend on the Progress. The Europeans send up an unmanned spacecraft, the Japanese as well, but really it's the Progress that is the workhorse," Attwood told CTV's Canada AM.

The rocket was carrying more then 2.5 tons of supplies, from oxygen to food and fuel.

According to reports, the rocket took off flawlessly, but the third stage of the rocket firing the ship into orbit failed about five minutes into the flight.

Russian officials on NASA TV said the upper stage did not separate from the supply ship as intended and controllers lost contact with the rocket.

Attwood said the astronauts on the ISS have ample supplies to last several months without a new shipment. However, the new crew that was scheduled to arrive in September will now likely be delayed as investigators try to figure out what went wrong.

The upper stage of the Soyuz rocket that failed on the Progress supply ship is similar to the one used to carry astronauts into space.

That means three members of the current six-astronaut crew on the ISS will likely have their stay extended as they wait for a ride. In an emergency situation they could also fly home on their own Soyuz rocket.

Attwood said it was likely a technical glitch that caused the loss of the rocket -- the 44th Progress to launch to the ISS.

"This launcher has been used for decades so it's a proven design. Probably something was done incorrectly, it will probably be found out pretty quickly if they can actually recover the wreckage," he said.

He said the rocket itself is fine and the problem appears to be with the launcher.

Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, issued a brief statement but did not specify whether the Progress ship that was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan had been lost.

Russia's state news agency, however, quoted Alexander Borisov, head of a the Choisky region in Russia's Altai province, as saying pieces of the craft fell in his area, roughly 1,500 kilometres northeast of the launch site.

"The explosion was so strong that for 100 kilometres glass almost flew out of the windows," he was quoted as saying.

There were no immediate reports of casualties and the Choisky interior ministry said the rocket crashed in a vast forest area that contains only small villages.

A recovery effort is expected to begin on Thursday.

With files from The Associated Press