On Friday, October 15, 2021, in accordance with the integrated preparations schedule, the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket pneumatic tests for the Progress MS-18 cargo spacecraft launch have been completed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Tightness checks of all three stages continued for four days in the Site 31 assembly and testing building of the technical complex.
Specialists from the Yuzhny Space Center (a branch of the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities) and the Progress Rocket and Space Center (both parts of Roscosmos) took part in the work. The next stage of preparations is to conduct autonomous tests of the onboard systems of the carrier rocket.
The Progress MS-18 cargo spacecraft is scheduled to launch on October 28, 2021 from Vostok Launch Complex, Site 31, Baikonur Cosmodrome.