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September 30, 2009. Baikonur launch site,
branch office of S.P.Korolev RSC Energia
According to the International Space Station (ISS) Mission Program and the commitments undertaken by the Russian side under this International Project, at 11 hours 14 minutes 45 seconds Moscow time the launch of Soyuz TMA-16 transport manned space vehicle was performed from Cosmodrome Baikonur.
The launch objective is to deliver onboard the ISS the members of the twenty first Prime Crew (ISS-21).
Onboard the space vehicle there are the following persons:
Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev (Commander), American astronaut Jeffrey Williams (Flight Engineer) and space flight participant Guy Laliberte (Canadian citizen) who will be working onboard the station under the Seventeenth Visiting Crew (VC-17) Program.
The space vehicle is launched into reference near-earth orbit having the following parameters; inclination of 51.63 degrees, minimum altitude of 200.7 km, maximum altitude of 257.7 km, Earth orbital period of 88.79 min.
The space vehicle onboard systems operate in design modes.
The Cosmodrome - based space vehicle prelaunch processing and launch were performed under the State Committee lead (with the Chairman A.N. Perminov, the Head of Roscosmos). The Committee took decisions on implementation of the prelaunch processing and launch phases guided by the conclusions drawn by the Technical Management headed by V.A. Lopota, the President of RSC Energia after S.P. Korolev, General Designer.
By telemetry data and reports sent by the combined crew of the nineteenth and twentieth Prime Crews (ISS-19/20) currently working onboard the ISS, the station onboard systems are operating in design modes. The ISS is ready to dock with the space vehicle.
For reference:
- ISS 19/20 crew members are currently working onboard
the International Space Station. They include the following
persons: Russian cosmonauts Gennady
Padalka (ISS Commander)and Roman
Romanenko (Flight Engineer-3);American astronauts
Mikhael Barratt
(FlightEngineer-1) and Nicole
Stott (Flight Engineer-2); ESA astronaut Frank
De Winne, Belgian citizen (Flight Engineer-4), and
Canadian Space Agency's astronaut Robert
Thirsk (Flight Engineer-5).
- S.P. Korolev Rocket-Space Corporation Energia is the leading enterprise of Russian rocket and space industry under the Human Space Flight Programs and responsible for the ISS Russian Segment development, the Russian Segment integration into the station and operational use, including development and utilization of the main Russian modules (Zvezda, Pirs, etc.); manufacture, launch and operational use of the Soyuz TMA, Progress space vehicle.
- Soyuz TMA-16/International Space Station docking is scheduled to take place on October 2, 2009, at 12 hours 37 minutes Moscow time. The space vehicle will be docked to service compartment of Russian Zvezda Module at the ISS Russian Segment.
- Currently, two Russian manned space vehicles Soyuz TMA-14 and Soyuz TMA-15, which arrived in the station on March 28 and May 29, 2009, correspondingly, are operating as part of the ISS.
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