Russia launches Progress MS-35 cargo ship to International Space Station

A Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle carrying the Progress MS-35 cargo spacecraft and supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) has lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to a Roscosmos broadcast, cited by local media.

The launch took place at 4:33 p.m. Moscow time from Site 31 at the cosmodrome.

The Progress MS-35 is scheduled to dock with the Poisk module on the Russian segment of the ISS on September 19 at 4:46 p.m. Moscow time.

The cargo spacecraft will deliver more than 2.4 metric tons of supplies to the station. The shipment includes 842 kilograms of propellant for refuelling the station, 420 kilograms of drinking water, 50 kilograms of air to replenish its atmosphere, and 525 kilograms of equipment and consumables for station maintenance and the crew’s scientific work.

The spacecraft is also carrying equipment and consumables for a series of experiments, including Gas Analyzer-FS, Teledroid, Biopolymer, Virtual, Vampire, Hurricane and Separation.

Progress cargo spacecraft have previously been launched using Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicles. The mission marks the first launch of a Progress cargo spacecraft to the ISS using the Soyuz-2.1b modification.

The ISS currently has a seven-member crew comprising Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev; NASA astronauts Jessica Meir, Anil Menon and Jack Hathaway; and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Sophie Adenot.

By Tamilla Hasanova