November 28, 2013
Categories: ISS, MCC, Progress, RSC Energia

Russian cargo vehicle Progress M-21M successfully carried out ISS rendezvous maneuver testing a new “Kurs-NA” docking system. After this maneuver the spaceship retreated to a safe distance  from the ISS (less than 100 km) in order to dock with the station on Saturday (November 30), – Mission Control Centre representative reported.

Up to now Progress space vehicles used “Kurs” system, new modernized “Kurs-NA” system will have new hardware components.
Progress thrusters operated nominally, the spacecraft successfully carried out ISS rendezvous maneuver. Both “Kurs-NA systems” active one installed on Progress and passive one of Zvezda service module worked nominally. After rendezvous the spacecraft retreated to 100 km distance away from the ISS to dock with it on Saturday, November 30, 2013”, – MCC spokesman stated.

RSC Energia representative (the enterprise developing “Progress” space vehicle and both “Kurs” and “Kurs-NA” systems) reported earlier that “Kurs-NA” system had been already tested by Progress M-15M in July 2012. “That time we tested it in telemetry mode that means the old “Kurs” system was installed on the spacecraft while the new one (“Kurs-NA”) showed telemetry data only. Now the new system is installed on the spacecraft and the ISS and it was tested for the first time not in telemetry but in nominal mode, – the spokesman explained.

According to him after “Kurs-NA” system testing by Progress M-21M all future Russian cargo vehicles will use the new system. The docking is scheduled for November 30, 02.28 Moscow time. The spacecraft will dock with Zvezda service module.

Image credit – Roscosmos

More from this category:
November 22, 2018

On November 21, at the 17th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in front of the “Cosmonaut” Hotel, a ceremony was held to raise the flags…

full story
April 17, 2014

The construction of Vostochny spaceport in Amur region is under way. The specialists work day and night to fill the gap in the schedule, –…

full story
July 30, 2021

Russian multipurpose laboratory module successfully docked with the ISS on July 29, at 16.29, Moscow time after an 8-days long flight. Nauka was launched from…

full story
March 24, 2014

In several days Soyuz TMA-12M will be launched from Baikonur spaceport and orbited by Soyuz FG booster. The crew going to the ISS comprises Russian…

full story
August 26, 2020

One of the Russian geostationary meteorological satellites, Electro-L, is located over the Atlantic Ocean, Roskosmos reported. The geostationary orbit is a circular orbit with an…

full story
January 26, 2016

Today, on Tuesday, Proton-M booster with Eutelsat-9B European telecommunication satellite was installed on the launchpad of Baikonur spaceport as planned, – Khrunichev Centre representative reports. The…

full story
June 21, 2018

Sergey Krikalev, Executive Director for Manned Space Programs of State Space Corporation “Roscosmos”, and Dr. Yusuf Namad Al Shaibini, General Director of the Mohammed bin…

full story
November 10, 2021

The Fregat upper stage, meant to launch the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft, was dispatched from NPO Lavochkin (part of Roscosmos) on November 9, 2021 to be…

full story