News

November 24, 2014.
Soyuz TMA - 15 launched to the International Space Station! The crew onboard the space vehicle consists of A. Shkaplerov, T. Virts, S. Cristoforetti

In accordance with the mission plan of the International Space Station (ISS) and the Russian commitments under this international project, Soyuz TMA-15M manned transport space vehicle (MTV) was launched from Baikonur launch site at 00:01:14 Moscow Time.

Objective of the launch is to deliver to the ISS a crew of three people in order to bring the number of crew members up to six.

The crew of Soyuz TMA-15M consists of Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (spacecraft Commander), European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti (spacecraft Flight Engineer 1) and US astronaut Terry Virts (spacecraft Flight Engineer 2).

The space vehicle was put into a reference low-earth orbit with the following parameters: 51,64° inclination, 199,06 km minimal altitude, 242,03 km maximum altitude, 88,63 minutes orbital period.

Onboard systems of the space vehicle operate normally.

At the launch site, the State Commission took its decisions on the phases of the space vehicle prelaunch processing and launch on the basis of a final report prepared by the Technical Management.

According to the telemetry data and reports from the ISS crew, the Station onboard systems operate normally. The station is ready to dock to the space vehicle.

 

For information:

1. RSC Energia is the prime manned space flight organization in the Russian rocket and space industry, responsible for the development of the ISS Russian Segment, its integration into the Space Station and its operation, including development and operation of its principal modules (Zvezda, Pirs, Poisk, Rassvet, etc.), manufacturing, launch and operation of Soyuz TMA and Progress M space vehicles.
2. Currently working onboard ISS is the crew of the ISS-42 consisting of Russian cosmonauts Alexander Samokutyaev and Elena Serova, US astronaut Barry Wilmore.
3. Mission plan for Soyuz TMA-15M manned space vehicle calls for its rendezvous and docking to the ISS by a 4-orbit flight profile following its orbital insertion. Space vehicle docking to the docking unit of the Russian Module Rassvet is scheduled for November 24, 2014 at 05 hours 53 minutes Moscow Time. Against a possibility of contingencies during rendezvous using the above flight profile, methods have been developed to switch safely to a two-day rendezvous profile.