News

Progress M-28M logistics spacecraft launched to ISS

July 3, 2015

Launch Vehicle (LV) Soyuz-U carrying logistics spacecraft Progress M-28M was launched from Area 1 of the Baikonur launch site on July 3 at 07:55:48 Moscow Time .

The logistics spacecraft Progress M-28M entered a low Earth orbit with the perigee altitude h=193 km, apogee latitude H=245 km, orbital period T=88.59 min and inclination 51.66 degrees. The orbital parameters meet the target values. The spacecraft separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle normally.

In accordance with the program of the International Space Station (ISS) the spacecraft will deliver to it propellant components, compressed oxygen, additional equipment needed to maintain the station in good working order, equipment for science experiments, medical supplies, personal belongings and food for the crew. Altogether, 2.4 metric tons of cargo will be delivered.

The cargo spacecraft will use a two-day flight profile to rendezvous with the ISS. During free flight there are plans to perform two burns with the spacecraft propulsion system to establish a phasing orbit. According to the calculations done by the trajectory specialists, the docking of the logistics vehicle with the Pirs docking compartment (DC) of the ISS is to be automatically performed at 10:13:02 Moscow Time during the 34th orbit. Members of the crew of Expedition 44 to the ISS, Roscosmos cosmonauts Gennadi Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko will be monitoring the docking process from onboard the space station.

The logistics spacecraft of the new series Progress M-M developed and built by RSC Energia is an upgraded version of the Progress M spacecraft. It is equipped with new devices for the motion control and navigation system and an improved onboard measurement system. All the devices are built around state-of-the-art electronic components and run the latest software. The upgrade made it possible to reduce the mass of the onboard equipment and thus enhance the capability to deliver payload to orbit.

The spacecraft is designed to deliver to the International Space Station (ISS) dry cargo, propellant components, supplies of water and gas, to perform dynamic operations when attached to the space station using its own engines, as well as to evacuate waste and spent equipment from the station. Additional tasks of the spacecraft include conducting space experiments in free flight and flight developmental testing of onboard systems and their elements.

 

OAO RSC Energia: the leader in the rocket and space industry, and the prime contractor for manned space systems. It conducts work on the development of unmanned space and rocket systems (launch vehicles and orbital transfer vehicles), and high-technology systems for various non-space applications. Since August 2014, the Corporation is headed by V.L. Solntsev.

 

OAO RSC Energia press center