Russia launched a non-pilot Progress cargo freighter from Kazakhstan on Sunday en route to deliver 2.7 tonnes of food, fuel, water and supplies to the International Space Station before transporting an unnecessary section of the outpost at the end this year to clear the way for a new lab module.
The Progress MS-16 cargo ship took off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board a Soyuz-2.1a rocket at 11:45 pm EST on Sunday (4:45 am GMT; 9:45 am local time).
The kerosene-powered launcher quickly disappeared into a pasty layer of clouds, but live video of “rocket cameras” on board showed the Soyuz soaring through the atmosphere before launching four first stage boosters and an aerodynamic cover that covered the Progress spacecraft. during the first few minutes of flight.
Soyuz later discarded its central stage and ignited a third stage engine to finish the job of placing the Progress MS-16 supply ship in a preliminary orbit.
Takeoff of a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with more than 2.7 tons of fuel, food, water and supplies for the International Space Station. https://t.co/hB7ZqpePbR pic.twitter.com/1sHI1r7hcq
– Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) February 15, 2021
The automated freighter separated from the third stage of Soyuz and unrolled solar panels and navigation antennas, starting a two-day chase to the space station that will culminate in a docking with the space station’s Pirs module at 0120 EST (0620 GMT) Wednesday .
The Progress MS-16 spacecraft is loaded with about 5,424 pounds, or 2,460 kg, of cargo and supplies for the space station and its seven-person crew, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.
The payload of the freighter includes about 3,086 pounds (1,400 kg) of dry cargo packed inside the pressurized compartment of the Progress spacecraft. There is also 1,322 pounds (600 kilograms) of propellant to power the space station’s Zvezda service module propulsion system, along with 926 pounds (420 kilograms) of fresh water and 89 pounds (40.5 kilograms) of pressurized gases to supplement the breathing of the atmosphere space station.
Russian cargo ship Progress MS-16 separated from its launcher Soyuz and deployed solar panels after a successful orbit ascent from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, aiming at the International Space Station to dock on Wednesday. https://t.co/hB7ZqpePbR pic.twitter.com/vtfLBy6vrE
– Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) February 15, 2021
The launch of the Soyuz rocket on Sunday marked the 77th launch of a Progress supply ship to the International Space Station since 2000. The previous Progress cargo ship, Progress MS-15, decoupled from the space station on February 9 and made a destructive re-entry. in the environment, getting rid of garbage and opening the way for the delivery of fresh cargo to arrive.
The Progress MS-16 spacecraft also carries equipment to help cosmonauts detect and correct leaks at the space station, as well as Russian biomedical experiments and a research payload to study obtaining food and oxygen from algae in microgravity, Roscosmos said.
The supply ship will stay at the space station until July, when Progress is scheduled to leave with the Pirs mooring compartment in tow. The Progress MS-16 will guide itself, along with the disused Pirs module, back into the atmosphere to burn at the end of its mission.
The Pirs module has served as an anchoring port and a decompression chamber for cosmonauts on spacewalks since 2001. A similar module called Poisk has a similar function and will remain on the space station.
Removing the Pirs module releases an anchorage port on the Zvezda service module, the central hub of the Russian segment of the space station, for the arrival of the long-delayed Nauka laboratory later this year after the launch of a heavy-duty Proton rocket. The Nauka laboratory module will be the biggest addition to the Russian segment of the station since 2000, when Zvezda himself was launched.
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