In the assembly and testing facility of Site 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a joint crew of specialists from subsidiaries of Roscosmos completed the general assembly of the Soyuz-2.1a / Progress MS-17 space rocket. On June 30, 2021, it will launch the Progress MS-17 cargo spacecraft into orbit with 2.5 tons of cargo for the 65th long-term expedition to the International Space Station crewmembers.
On June 25, at the first stage of work, the ascent unit (with the freighter under the fairing) was docked with the third stage of the launch vehicle, this assembly was docked to the so-called ‘package’ (first and second stage assembly). After mechanical assembly, electrical connections and checks of the rocket were carried out.
At 12:00 UTC, a meeting of the State Commission took place at the Baikonur Cosmodrome to confirm the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket readiness to be rolled out to Pad 31 (‘Vostok’) and prepared for launch. The space rocket will be rolled out on Sunday, June 27, 2021 and installed into the launch structure. After drawing in the service farms, Roscosmos specialists will carry out the work according to the day one schedule.
