News

The launch vehicle with Soyuz TMA-19M is installed on the launch site

December 13, 2015

Today on December 13 the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-19M manned transport vehicle was transported from the assembly & testing facilities (LV ATF) and installed on launch site No. 1 (Gagarin's launch pad) of the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

The decision on the launch vehicle roll-out and installation was accepted at the meeting of Technical Management and the State Commission which was held on Saturday in the scope of pre-launch processing.

The launch of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz TMA-19M MTV under the International Space Station (ISS) program was scheduled on Tuesday, December 15, at 14:03:10 Moscow Time.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko (the vehicle commander), NASA astronaut Timothy Kopra and ESA astronaut Timothy Peake who became the crewmembers of the ISS-46/47 Expedition will be delivered to the ISS by Soyuz TMA-19M.

The manned transport vehicle (MTV) of a new series such as Soyuz TMA-M developed and produced by RSC Energia is a modernized version of the Soyuz TMA vehicle. New devices of the guidance, navigation and control system are installed on it, as well as the onboard measurement system is updated. All the devices are manufactured using up-to-date EEE parts and completed with innovative software. As a result of the modification the onboard equipment mass is reduced, and this fact allowed to extend the capabilities for the payload delivery to orbit.

The vehicle is intended to deliver the crews of up to three persons and the associated cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to return them to the ground. When being on the ISS the Soyuz-TMA-M MTV performs the rescue vehicle functions and is maintained in permanent readiness for the crew emergency descent to the ground. It can be required in case of an emergency situation onboard the Station, an illness or damage of any crewmember.

OAO RSC Energia is a leading enterprise of rocket-space industry, the prime organization for manned space systems. The Corporation is working to develop unmanned space and rocket systems (launch vehicles and inter-orbital transfer), high-tech systems for various applications to be used in non-space fields. Since August 2014 the Corporation is headed by Vladimir Solntsev.