News Archive

On November 15 at 10 am (Moscow time) in the GCTC a meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission began, which summarized the readiness for space flight of the main and backup crews of the ISS-58/59. The main and backup crews of the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft reported on their readiness to carry out the flight program, thanked the GCTC specialists and other organizations for their good preparation. According to the commission, the crews of the 58/59 long-term expedition to the International Space Station are ready to perform a space flight on the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft and the Russian ISS segment and recommended to begin preparations at the Baikonur cosmodrome .

On November 15, 1988, 30 years ago, the Soviet spaceship "Buran" made its triumphal unmanned flight. This event was the crown of the most complex and most expensive program of the Soviet space program, which began in the mid-1970s as a response to the development of American space shuttles. The whole country worked on the "Energia-Buran" system - during its creation, the efforts of hundreds of design bureaus, factories, research organizations, military builders, and operational parts of space forces were combined. Prior to "Buran", the Soviet space history knew nothing of the kind

Today, on November 14, the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket with "Progress MS-10" cargo spaceship was taken out of the assembly and test building and installed in the launch complex of the site № 1 of the Baikonur cosmodrome. Pre-launch tests of systems and units of the rocket-space complex are conducted, the interaction of the onboard equipment and ground equipment is checked. The launch of the "Progress MS-10" cargo spaceship by the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for November 16, 2018.

The main and backup crews of the 58 / 59th long expedition to the ISS approached the most crucial stage of preparation at the GCTC - the examination complex trainings. At first the backup crew of the ISS-58/59 (Roskosmos cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano and NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan) began the tests on a simulator of the "Soyuz" manned spacecraft. Then, on the Russian segment of the International Space Station, complex trainings began with the main crew of the ISS-58/59 (Roskosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, ESA astronaut David St. Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain). When the main crew started trainings, Russian and foreign journalists had the opportunity to talk with the head of GCTC Pavel Vlasov. The examination complex trainings results of both ISS-58/59 crews will be announced tonight.

At the Baikonur cosmodrome, preparations are continuing for the launches of the "Soyuz MS-11" manned spacecraft and the "Progress MS-10" cargo spacecraft. During the preparation of the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft, the inspection of the ship’s systems and compartments for leak tightness in a vacuum chamber using helium-air conditions was successfully completed. The launch of the "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft is scheduled for December 3, 2018. Also at Baikonur cosmodrome the RSC "Energia" specialists conducted a design inspection of the "Progress MS-10" cargo ship and carried out technological operations on rolling the head fairing of the launch vehicle. The launch of the "Progress MS-10" cargo vehicle by the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for November 16, 2018 from the launch complex № 1 (Gagarinsky start).

Experts of "RSC Energia" at the Baikonur cosmodrome on November 6 and 7 successfully completed the operations on refueling the "Progress MS-10" cargo vehicle with fuel components and compressed gases at the filling station. The launch of the "Progress MS-10" cargo vehicle by the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for November 16, 2018. The ship will deliver to the ISS about 2.5 tons of various cargoes, including dry cargo, fuel in tanks and refueling systems, water and compressed gases.

On November 7, 2018, at 03:47 Moscow time, the launch vehicle "Soyuz-ST-B" with the European meteorological spacecraft "MetOp-С" was launched from the cosmodrome of the Guiana Space Center. "MetOp-C" is the third and last satellite of the European Satellite Meteorology Organization. The first and second satellites of this series were launched in 2006 and 2012 respectively.

On Saturday, November 3, at 11:17 pm Moscow time, at the Plesetsk State Test Space Center in the Arkhangelsk Region was successfully launched the "Soyuz-2.1B" mid-range space rocket with the Russian "Glonass-M" navigation satellite. The launch of the carrier rocket and the launching of the spacecraft into the calculated orbit took place in the normal mode. From the beginning of the year, launches of the "Soyuz-2.1V" and "Rokot" light-carrier rocket and the "Soyuz-2.1B" middle class have also been successfully launched from the northern cosmodrome. The "Glonass-M" space unit, launched into orbit, has replenished the orbital grouping of the Russian Glonass Global Navigation Satellite System and is at the stage of entry into the system.

A press conference was held at the Mission Control Center at TSNIIIMASH on the results of the work of the State Commission to determine the causes of the emergency situation, that occurred on October 11, 2018 during the launch of the "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Soyuz MS-10" spacecraft. The reason for abnormal separation is the failure to open the lid of the nozzle cover of the oxidizer tank of the “D” block due to the deformation of the splitting contact sensor stem (bending by 6˚45 ‘) allowed during assembling at the Baikonur cosmodrome. t the same time, the State Commission approved the launch dates for the International Space Station program: on November 16, 2018, the "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Progress MS-10" cargo spacecraft will be launched, and on December 3, 2018, "Soyuz MS-11" spacecraft will be launched .

According to the information from TASS News Agency, the cause of the "Soyuz-FG" rocket accident, that occurred on October 11, was the abnormal operation of the sensor, signaling the separation of the first and second stages of the carrier. This was announced on Wednesday by Sergey Krikalev - the executive director of Roscosmos for manned programs. The "Soyuz-FG" launch vehicle with the "Soyuz MS-10" spacecraft crashed on October 11, shortly after launching from Baikonur.