Today on June 6, 2018 at 14:12 (Moscow time) at Baikonur cosmodrome from the launchpad № 1 ("Gagarinsky start") launched a carrier rocket “Soyuz-FG” with a "Soyuz MS-09" spacecraft. After 8 minutes and 48 seconds, the ” Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft was completely separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle in a given near-earth orbit and continued its autonomous flight to the International Space Station under the supervision of specialists from the Russian Flight Mission Control Center.

On June 4, 2018, at the Baikonur cosmodrome, specialists of Roscosmos enterprises rolled out to the launch site a “Soyuz-FG” carrier rocket with a “Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft. After the rocket was installed in the launch system and the service farms were attached, the specialists of the Roscosmos enterprises started to work according to the schedule of the first starting day.

On Wednesday, May 30, the cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexey Leonov celebrates his birthday.

On May 29, 2018, as part of the prelaunch training program, the crews of “Soyuz MS-09” spacecraft conducted open training sessions attended by representatives of the media. Cosmonauts and astronauts of the main and backup crews Sergei Prokopiev, Oleg Kononenko, Alexander Gerst, Serena Aunon-Chancellor, Anne Macclein and David Saint-Jacques held training sessions at the multi-purpose stand for manual approach of the” Soyuz MS” spacecraft, training on the on-board documentation of the spacecraft , got training of the factors of space flight on special simulators and sports training.

On May 25 the delegation of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency led by JAXA President Hiroshi Yamakawa visited the Cosmonaut Training Center. Within the framework of the meeting with the head of GCTC, Hero of the Russian Federation, the honored test pilot of the Russian Federation Pavel Vlasov, further cooperation in the training of cosmonauts and astronauts in the crews was discussed. Hiroshi Yamakawa and Pavel Vlasov noted the need for full-fledged cooperation in the implementation of such a grandiose international project as the ISS.

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited former deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin to head the state corporation ”Roskosmos”. Putin's meeting with Rogozin took place in the fields of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2018). "We have repeatedly and for a long time discussed the development of “Roskosmos”. It is not necessary to say how important it is for the economy, for many other areas, including the sphere of security " - said the President of the Russian Federation.

Specialists of RSC “Energia” at the Baikonur cosmodrome successfully completed the operations for refueling the transport manned spacecraft “ Soyuz MS-09” with fuel components and compressed gases.

On May 21, 2018, on the territory of the test training complex (17th site) of the Baikonur complex, at the flag-raising ceremony of the countries, participating in the launch of the Soyuz MS-09 transport manned spacecraft, the final phase of preflight preparation of crews was officially launched .

Since the beginning of our space era, cosmonauts have formed many wonderful traditions, that provide a connection between times and generations. Among them - a visit of a Museum of the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Yuri Gagarin and Red Square before departure at the Baikonur cosmodrome.

Vegitel Company invites you to join an exclusive Baikonur launchsite tour with the observation of Soyuz manned spacecraft launch. The nearest tour is timed to Soyuz MS-10 launch scheduled for October, 11th 2018.