Soyuz MS-22 successfully launched to the ISS
September 26, 2022

On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 16:54:49.531 Moscow time, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft (K.E. Tsiolkovsky”) and the crew of the 68th long-term expedition launched to the International Space Station.

The crew includes Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-22, its separation from the third stage of the rocket, the opening of the antennas and solar panels of the ship were carried out nominally.

On Wednesday, September 21, 2022, at 20:06:33 Moscow time, the manned spacecraft Soyuz MS-22 (K.E. Tsiolkovsky) after two-orbit rendezvous scheme docked to the Rassvet research module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. After opening the transfer hatches between the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft and the Rassvet module, they joined Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov, NASA astronauts Chell Lindgren, Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

The ship is named K.E. Tsiolkovsky” in honor of the 165th anniversary of the birth of the founder of theoretical cosmonautics Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. On board, in addition to the crew, there are about 120 kg of payloads, including sanitary and hygienic supplies and medical control, on-board documentation and consumable items of service equipment, clothes and personal belongings of astronauts, food rations and fresh food, as well as packing for carrying out scientific experiments.

During the 68th long-term expedition to the ISS with a planned duration of 188 days, five spacewalks are planned according to the Russian program, as well as the arrival of the Russian Progress MS-21 and Progress MS-22 cargo ships.

In July 2022, within the framework of the ISS program, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement on cross-flights of Russian cosmonauts on American manned spacecraft and American astronauts on Russian manned spacecraft. The flight of NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio on the Soyuz MS-22 was the first of them, and on October 3, 2022, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, as part of the Crew-5 crew, will go to the station on the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The implementation of the agreement will make it possible, in case of cancellation or a significant delay in the launch of a Russian or American spacecraft, to ensure the presence on board the ISS of at least one Roscosmos cosmonaut and one NASA astronaut to serve the Russian and American segments of the station, respectively.

More from this category:
August 13, 2014

Yesterday on August 12, at 17.30, Moscow time, European cargo space vehicle ATV-5 (Georges Lemaître) docked with Russian service module Zvezda. Station reboost maneuver was…

full story
November 29, 2016

Soyuz-U booster with new series cargo vehicle Soyuz MS-04 was rolled out from the integration building and erected on pad №1 (Gagarin launchpad). Specialists of…

full story
February 15, 2021

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle and the Progress MS-16 cargo spacecraft undergo final prelaunch operations. In accordance with the decision of the…

full story
December 16, 2019

Having completed the verticalization, specialists from Roscosmos enterprises performed operations on docking communications of the “package”, assembling temperature control circuits, docking fueling communications and other…

full story
June 25, 2013

Scientists from Novosibirsk are developing reactor that enables to create biological and chemical materials of new properties (including organs) under weightlessness condition; according to preliminary…

full story
March 10, 2015

Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka expects to set up a new record spending 1000 days on the orbit,  as he told the journalists at press-conference taking…

full story
May 15, 2019

On May 14, the “Fregat” upper stage arrived at the Vostochny space center. Specialists of the Vostochny Space Center (TSENKI company branch) performed its acceptance…

full story
April 24, 2015

The first launch of Angara-A5V heavy booster with test payload will be performed from Vostochny spaceport in 2023, – as stated in Russian Federal Space…

full story