11.09.2020

Engines of the Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft currently docked with the station worked for 225 seconds

Specialists of Russia’s Flight Control Center carried out a maneuver to raise the average altitude of the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS), using the engines of a Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft, Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos said on Thursday.

"On Thursday, September 10, 2020, Roscosmos specialists carried out the scheduled adjustment of the International Space Station’s orbit," Roscosmos said.

Engines of the Progress MS-14 cargo spacecraft currently docked with the station were switched on at 23:32 Moscow time and worked for 225 seconds.

"The maneuver was carried out in order to establish ballistic conditions ahead of the Soyuz MS-17 manned spacecraft launch and docking," the space corporation said.

According to earlier reports from Roscosmos, the maneuver was expected to raise the station’s average altitude by 800 meters, to about 419.6 km above the earth.

As part of preparations for the upcoming launch, the station’s orbit was raised by 1.1 km in late July.

The launch of a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the manned Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft is scheduled for October 2020 from Launch Site No. 31 of the Baikonur spaceport to deliver a new expedition to the orbital outpost. The new crew includes Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins.

The current ISS crew comprises NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy and Russian cosmonauts Anatoly Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner.

Quelle: TASS