News

November 26, 2013
Unmanned logistics spacecraft Progress M-21M in orbit

At 00:53:06 Moscow Time, logistics spacecraft Progress M-21M was launched from the Baikonur launch site.

The objective of the launch is to provide support needed for further functioning in orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) in accordance with the Russian commitments under this project, as well as flight tests of a new Kurs-NA radio system for measuring relative motion parameters designed to support rendezvous and docking with the station.

The main objective of the mission is to deliver to the Space Station about 2.4 metric tons of various cargoes that are needed to continue the ISS mission in manned mode and provide living and working conditions for the crew.

The spacecraft was put into a parking low-Earth orbit with the following parameters: 51,67 deg. inclination, 193,21 km minimal altitude, 255,13 km maximum altitude, 88,68 minutes orbital period.

The onboard systems of the spacecraft operate normally.

At the launch site the pre-launch processing and launch operations were supervised by the State Commission for manned systems flight tests and the Technical Management for flight tests of manned space systems, headed by the RSC Energia President and General Designer V.A. Lopota.

According to the telemetry data and reports from the crew of ISS Expedition 38, the space station systems function normally.

The docking of the logistics spacecraft with the space station is scheduled for November 30, at 02:28 Moscow Time.

 

For reference:

1. In its compartments, the spacecraft carries into orbit supplies of propellant, oxygen, air, water, food rations, including natural form foods, hardware to support the operation of the station systems and equipment, hardware for scientific research and experiments, additional hardware for the Russian Segment modules, as well as packages for the ISS crew.
2. Currently working in orbit under the ISS program are: Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov, Sergei Ryazansky, Mikhail Tyurin, a Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata, and US astronauts Michael Hopkins and Richard Mastracchio.
3. The Kurs-NA system flight test program which is to be carried out during the first two days of the Progress M-21M mission calls for a test rendezvous without docking (with a fly-by within a specified distance from the station), after which the spacecraft will rendezvous and dock with the ISS using a two-day docking profile.