March 3, 2009. S.P. Korolev RSC Energia, Korolev, Moscow Region

S.P.Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia held a session of the Council of Chief Designers chaired by the Corporation President and General Designer V.A. Lopota.
Heard during the session were the following reports:

• about the status of Soyuz TMA-14 manned transportation spacecraft readiness for launch, and of the Soyuz TMA-13 for flight completion;
• about Soyuz-FG launch vehicle (LV) flight readiness for the launch of Soyuz TMA-14;
• about the readiness of the launch pad for the launch of the integrated launch vehicle carrying Soyuz TMA-14;
• about the results of Expedition ISS-18, the mission plan for the upcoming period, the status of ISS, LOCT, and flight support assets readiness for carrying out the program of the next missions ISS-19/20, the final report on the technical readiness of the ISS-18 crew and onboard documentation for completion of the flight under the program of Expedition ISS-18;
• about the status of the ISS US segment, the readiness of Space Shuttles for the next phase of the flight under ISS program;
• about the readiness for upcoming operations with Soyuz TMA-14, Soyuz TMA-13 and ISS of the ground control assets and infrastructure;
• about the readiness of the search and rescue assets for performing work in support of Soyuz TMA-14 launch and Soyuz TMA-13 landing;
• about the readiness of the ISS-19/20 crew and the crew of Visiting Mission 16 for carrying out the program of upcoming activities on the ISS and of the crew of ISS-18 for landing;
• about the health status of the crews of ISS-19/20, ISS-18 and the crew of the Visisting Mission 16;
• about compliance of Soyuz TMA-14 with the technical documentation of the General Designer.

Also heard were supplementary reports, announcements and findings from chief designers and responsible representatives of organizations and companies participating in the implementation of the ISS program. These included final reports on the readiness of Soyuz TMA-14 systems and structure, of the components of the integrated launch vehicle Soyuz-FG/Soyuz TMA-14 and all of the ISS equipment for the upcoming phase of the mission. It was announced that, taking into account the resolution of all the anomalies that had been detected earlier and the implementation of the proposed technical recommendations, there were no obstacles to continuing the work under the ISS program.
The Council of Chief Designers made the decision to approve the S.P.Korolev RSC Energia proposal for the upcoming final operations to prepare Soyuz TMA-14 for launch and Soyuz TMA-13 for return to Earth, as well as Corporation proposals on the programs of Expeditions ISS-19/20 and of the visiting mission 16.
Taking part in the work of the Council of Chief Designers were: the head of the Roscosmos Manned Programs Directorate A.B. Krasnov, Director of NASA manned missions program in Moscow D. Montalbano, representatives of Roscosmos, NASA, ESA, subdivisions of RSC Energia, organizations and companies of Russian rocket and space industry.

 For information:
1. S.P. Korolev RSC Energia is the prime Russian company engaged in development and operation of the ISS Russian Segment, its integration into the space station and its transportation/logistics support using Soyuz/Progress-type spacecraft.

2. The launch of Soyuz TMA-14 is scheduled for March 26, 2009, and Soyuz TMA-13 return to Earth for April 7, 2009.

3. The program of Expedition ISS-19/20 is planned to be 199 days long (the stay on-board the stationwill take 197 days), the visiting mission 16 will be 16 days long (10 days on-board the station). At the same time, Russia will provide logistics support to the station using Progress M-02M in May and Progress M-67 in July 2009.