News

State Commission gave authorization to proceed with erecting the launch vehicle with Progress M-29M transportation spacecraft on the launch pad

September 28, 2015

Today, September 28, representatives of the technical management and the state commission in the course of a meeting at the Baikonur cosmodrome made a decision to proceed with the rolling out and erecting on the launch pad of a Soyuz-U launch vehicle (LV) carrying an unmanned supply spacecraft Progress M-29M.

In accordance with the State Commission's decision the integrated launch vehicle system Soyuz-U/Progress M29-M will be rolled out of the launch vehicle processing facility and erected on the launch pad of Area No.1 ("Gagarin's launch pad") of the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Tuesday, September 29.

The overall integration of the Soyuz-U launch vehicles with the upper composite is successfully completed.

The launch of the Soyuz-U LV with Progress M-29M logistics spacecraft under the program of the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for Thursday, October 1, at 19:49:32 Moscow Time.

In accordance with the ISS program, Progress M-29M will deliver to the station 2369 kg of various cargos, including 1549 kg of dry cargo, 350 kg of propellant, 420 kg of water and 50 kg of compressed oxygen.

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.

 

Joint Stock Company RSC Energia is 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.