Featured image credit: ROSCOSMOS
Lift Off Time | May 24, 2023 – 12:56 UTC | 15:56 MSK |
|---|---|
Mission Name | Progress MS-23 (84P), a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) |
Launch Provider | ROSCOSMOS |
Customer | ROSCOSMOS |
Rocket | Soyuz 2.1a |
Launch Location | Launch Complex 31/6, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan |
Payload mass | ~2,491 kg of cargo |
Where did the spacecraft go? | It rendezvoused with the ISS, ~400 km low Earth orbit (LEO) at a 51.65° inclination |
Did they attempt to recover the first stage? | No, this is not a capability of Soyuz |
Where did the first stage land? | The boosters crashed into the steppes of Kazakhstan |
Did they attempt to recover the fairings? | No, this is not a capability of Soyuz |
Were these fairings new? | Yes |
This was the: | – 23rd launch of a Progress MS spacecraft – 176th Progress launch – 5th launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome of 2023 – 75th orbital launch attempt of 2023 |
Where to re-watch | Official replay |
How Did It Go?
Progress MS-23 (84P) is a cargo resupply mission that headed to the International Space Station (ISS). ROSCOSMOS launched it using an uncrewed Progress MS spacecraft atop a Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle. The rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 31/6, at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This mission marked the 23rd flight of the Progress MS capsule.
The Soyuz 2.1a rocket assigned to this mission was decorated with images that pay tribute to two significant milestones: the 300th anniversary of the city of Perm and the 60th anniversary of the groundbreaking first woman’s spaceflight.
Progress MS-23 (84P)
Payload
Progress MS-23 carried propellant, water for the Rodnik system, food, and new clothes for cosmonauts. The uncrewed spacecraft also delivered a workstation that will be installed on the external surface of the Zvezda module. Moreover, among the cargo was a launch device with a nano-satellite intended for the Parus-MGTU experiment (conducted by the N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University). Cosmonauts will launch it to test the technology of deploying a solar sail.
Finally, Progress MS-23 brought a video-spectral system for observing the Earth’s surface for the Uragan experiment, a glove box for the Glavbox-S experiment, as well as some equipment for conducting the Aseptic, Correction, Neuroimmunity, Separation, and Vampire experiments. Overall, this mission delivered approximately 2,491 kg of cargo to the ISS.
Progress MS-23 (84P) Mission Profile
Progress MS separated from the third stage of the Soyuz 2.1a at ~9 min after launch. It autonomously docked to the Poisk module (Poisk is the Russian word for “exploration”) 3.5 hours later, 16:18 UTC (19:18 MSK). It is used as a research facility, as well as a docking compartment for both Soyuz spacecraft and Progress capsule.
Approximate Timeline
| Hrs:Min:Sec From Lift-Off | Events |
| – 00:00:15 | Engine start sequence |
| 00:00:00 | Lift-Off |
| + 00:01:58 | First stage separation |
| + 00:03:03 | Fairing jettison |
| + 00:04:47 | Second stage separation |
| + 00:04:57 | Tail section separation |
| + 00:08:45 | Third stage main engine cutoff |
| + 00:08:49 | Progress MS separation |
What Is Soyuz 2.1a?
ROSCOSMOS’s Soyuz is a multi-use medium-lift launch vehicle that was introduced in far 1966 and since then has been the workhorse of the Soviet/Russian space program. It is capable to launch civilian and military satellites, as well as cargo and crewed missions to the ISS. Over the decades, several variants of the Soyuz rocket have been developed. Soyuz 2.1a is one of its latest iterations that belongs to the Soyuz-2 rocket family.
The rocket consists of three stages, all of them are expendable. When launching to the ISS, Soyuz-2 can be flown with either a Progress capsule or a Soyuz spacecraft. On the Progress MS-23 mission, the Progress MS module was used to deliver cargo to the ISS.
Soyuz 2.1a is about 46.3 meters (152 ft) in height and 2.95 meters (9 feet) in diameter. The vehicle’s total lift-off mass is approximately 312,000 kg (688,000 lb). The rocket’s payload lift capacity to low-Earth orbit (LEO) is between 6,600 and 7,400 kg depending on the launch site.
Stages
| First Stage | Second Stage | Third Stage | |
| Engine | 4 RD-107A | RD-108A | RD-0110 |
| Total Thrust | 840 kN (188,720 lbf), sea level 1,020 kN (229,290 lbf), vacuum | 792 kN (178,140 lbf), sea level 922 kN (207,240 lbf), vacuum | 298 kN (67,000 lbf), vacuum |
| Specific Impulse (ISP) | 263 s, sea level 320 s, vacuum | 258 s, sea level 321 s, vacuum | 326 s, vacuum |
Side Boosters
The first stage of the Soyuz 2.1a rocket is composed of four side boosters that are powered by RD-107A engines. Each one of the boosters has a conical shape and a dry weight of 3,784 kg. It is approximately 19.6 meters in length, with a diameter of 2.7 meters. Each side booster has two vernier thrusters that are used for flight control.
The RD-107A engine runs on rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) and liquid oxygen (LOx). The propellants are stored in the pressurized aluminum alloy tanks, the kerosene tank is located in the cylindrical part of the booster, and the LOx one is in the conical section. Each one of those engines has four combustion chambers and together they are capable of producing a thrust of 840 kN at sea level and 1,020 kN in a vacuum.
Perhaps, the most spectacular moment of the Soyuz-2 rocket’s launch is the separation of the first stage. It happens approximately two minutes after the launch. The boosters perform a pattern, known as the “Korolev cross” (named after Sergei Korolev, a very important figure of the USSR space program and history).
Second And Third Stages
The center core stage is powered by a single RD-108A engine, and the upper stage is fitted with a single RD-0110 engine. Both of these engines run on rocket-grade kerosene and LOx and have four combustion chambers. The second stage is 27.10 meters long, with a diameter of 2.95 meters, and a dry mass of 6,545 kg. It has four vernier thrusters for three-axis flight control.
The third stage of a Soyuz-2 rocket has a height of 6.7 meters, a diameter of 2.7 meters, and a dry mass of 2,355 kg. One interesting thing about the engine on this stage is that it starts its ignition sequence prior to stage separation. This process is called “hot fire staging”.
Progress MS Spacecraft
The Progress module is a space “truck” for delivering cargo to the ISS. Its design is largely derived from the Soyuz spacecraft that serves for the transportation of astronauts to the ISS. The Progress capsule is 7.9 meters in length and 2.7 meters in diameter. It consists of three parts: a pressurized cargo module, a propellant compartment, and a rear service module (like the Soyuz spacecraft).
Unlike Cargo Dragon 2, it is not designed to bring cargo back to Earth. This is because the three modules on Progress are not capable to split before re-entry. Therefore, after unloading the cargo, the crew progressively fills it only with trash. At the end of its mission, the spaceship separates from the ISS, performs a deorbit burn, and entirely burns up upon re-entry in Earth’s atmosphere.
The MS series is the latest modernized variation of the Progress spacecraft that began flying in December 2015. Among the introduced upgrades are improved orbital debris shielding, a new flight-control and navigation systems, as well as a new external compartment that can be used for satellite deployment.
Kurs-NA Automatic Docking System
Like the Soyuz spacecraft, Progress MS is equipped with a Kurs-NA automatic docking system that was first tested on the Progress M-15M mission in July 2012. Compared to its ancestor, Kurs-A, the new system has only one AO-753A rendezvous antenna. Kurs-A had five (two 2AO-VKA and three AKR-VKA) of them. This antenna broadcasts radar pulses that are needed to determine the altitude and relative position of the spacecraft to the ISS. Moreover, Kurs-NA uses less power than Kurs-A.
In addition, the Progress MS spacecraft can be docked to the ISS manually by the docking system called the Tele-Robotically Operated Rendezvous unit (TORU). This manual system serves as a backup to Kurs-NA in emergency situations and is located inside the Zvezda service module. On the Progress MS-16 mission, the control of the capsule had to be switched over to the TORU due to a signal strength issue of the Kurs system.
