By Matthew Roscoe • Published: 24 Nov 2021 • 14:41
Russia launches a new module bound for the International Space Station. Credit: Twitter
THE Soyuz-2.1b rocket carrying the Progress cargo ship with the Prichal (Pier) docking module is on its way to the station after successfully launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at around 2 pm on Wednesday, November 24.
The rocket has unfurled its solar arrays and navigation antenna to begin the journey towards the International Space station for docking Friday, November 26 – where it will hook up to the new Russian Nauka (Science) laboratory module that was added to the station in July.
Liftoff! 🚀 The Prichal Russian docking module and its modified uncrewed Russian Progress delivery spacecraft are on the way to station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. pic.twitter.com/ajfFVEQsTC — International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 24, 2021
Liftoff! 🚀 The Prichal Russian docking module and its modified uncrewed Russian Progress delivery spacecraft are on the way to station after launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. pic.twitter.com/ajfFVEQsTC
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) November 24, 2021
According to early reports, the cargo spacecraft-module solar panels and antennas were deployed at around 2.30 pm. The report also said that the launch and the flight of the rocket went smoothly.
Before docking the International Space station, Russia’s Progress MS-17 cargo freighter is slated to undock from the Nauka module at the space station on Thursday, November 25 at around 12.23 pm to clear the way for the arrival of Prichal.
The new spherical module with six docking ports will allow potential future expansion of the Russian segment of the station.
Earlier this week, Russian crew on the station started training for Prichal’s arrival, simulating the use of manual controls in case the automatic docking system fails.
The space outpost is currently operated by NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn, Kayla Barron, and Mark Vande Hei; Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov; and Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Share this story
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don't already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Originally from the UK, Matthew is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Download our media pack in either English or Spanish.