The docking of Russia’s Progress MS-13 cargo craft with the International Space Station (ISS) has been rescheduled for December 9 due to the arrival of the US Dragon resupply ship at the orbital outpost, the state space corporation Roscosmos reported on Wednesday.

"Considering that the launch of the US Dragon space freighter under the SpX-19 mission is scheduled for December 4 and its docking for December 7 and that NASA has suggested making December 8 a back-up day, the Mission Control for the Russian segment of the International Space Station has made a decision to set the date of the Progress MS-13 spacecraft’s docking [with the ISS] for December 9 under the standard three-day scheme," Roscosmos said in a statement.

A source in the space industry earlier told TASS that the Progress space freighter would travel to the orbital outpost using a two-day scheme and would stay in the stand-by mode several kilometers from the station for another 24 hours because NASA needed a back-up day for the US cargo craft’s docking.

If the US Dragon spacecraft docks with the ISS in the normal mode on December 7, "the Russian resupply ship will all the same stay in the standby mode near the orbital outpost and arrive at the space station only on December 9," the source specified.

Roscosmos earlier rescheduled the launch of the Progress MS-13 spacecraft from December 6 for December 1. However, it had to return to the initial date of December 6 due to the need to replace the onboard cable and hold additional checks.

The Progress MS-13 spacecraft will blast off aboard a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:34 p.m. Moscow time on December 6. The resupply ship will deliver fuel, water and other cargoes for the space station’s operation. According to NASA, the Progress cargo craft will dock with the orbital outpost at 1:38 p.m. on December 9.

Quelle: TASS