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Progress MS-27 to re-supply the ISS

Russian specialists at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan launched their second cargo supply mission of 2024 to the International Space Station, ISS, on May 30. Progress MS-27 then successfully docked at the Poisk module on June 1, 2024, delivering nearly 2.5 tons of supplies to Expedition 71 aboard the ISS.

Progress MS-27 mission at a glance:

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Flight program

According to Roskosmos, Progress MS-27 was scheduled to deliver a total of 2,504 kilograms of cargo to the station, including 1,290 kilograms of hardware and equipment for the station, materials for experiments, food, clothing, medical and hygiene supplies in the its pressurized cargo compartment. A the same time, the vehicle's refueling module was also filled with 754 kilograms of propellant for the station's propulsion system (INSIDER CONTENT), 420 kilograms of drinking water and 40 kilograms of nitrogen for replenishing the atmosphere of the ISS.

Payloads to be delivered to the ISS included a multi-range spectrometer for the Uragan remote-sensing experiment, which was slated to be installed on one of the windows (INSIDER CONTENT) of the Zvezda Service Module, SM, for environmental, agricultural, and natural-disaster monitoring purposes, as well as for water management and forestry. Progress MS-27 was also loaded with consumable materials for such ongoing experiments as Bio-polymer, Vzaimodeistvie-2, Virtual, Korrektsiya, Neiro-immunitet and Pilot-T, Roskosmos said.

Preparations for flight

Progress MS-27 was delivered to Baikonur, along with Soyuz MS-25, on Sept. 14, 2023. By November 2023, the launch was re-scheduled from April 16, 2024, to May 30, 2024, and in early January 2024, it was expected on June 3, 2024. However, by mid April 2024, the launch date shifted back to May 30, 2024.

The processing of the spacecraft at Site 254 in Baikonur officially started on March 25, 2024, when specialists from RKK Energia removed the spacecraft from storage, conducted its inspection and began preparations for tests and the loading of cargo. On April 19, the spacecraft was transferred to an anechoic chamber, a part of the processing complex at Site 254, for autonomous electric tests of radio equipment. The vacuum testing of the spacecraft was completed by April 24, 2024, when the spacecraft was returned to its processing rig and the routine testing of solar panels was conducted on May 12, 2024, with parallel preparation of its cargo. The fueling of the spacecraft was performed between May 19 and 21, 2024, and on May 23, the spacecraft was integrated with the launch vehicle adapter serving as an interface with the third stage of the Soyuz rocket.

On May 23, specialists conducted the traditional visual inspection of the cargo ship, after which it was lowered into horizontal position and rolled inside its payload fairing. After additional checks, the spacecraft was transported to Site 31 on May 25, 2024.

The final integration of the Progress MS-27 with the launch vehicle took place inside the vehicle processing building at Site 31 on May 26 and, on the same day, the State Commission cleared the vehicle for rollout to the launch pad, which took place the next morning.

Progress MS-27 launch profile

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket, carrying the Progress MS-27 cargo ship, lifted off as scheduled from Pad 6 at Site 31 in Baikonur on May 30, 2024, at 12:49:59.080 Moscow Time.

Following a vertical liftoff under the combined thrust of the four RD-107 engines on the first stage and the single RD-108 of the second (core) stage, the launch vehicle headed eastward from Baikonur matching its ground track to an orbit inclined 51.67 degrees to the plane of the Equator.

The four first-stage boosters separated 1 minute 58 seconds after liftoff, at an altitude of around 43 kilometers, followed by the split and drop of the two halves of the payload fairing slightly more than a minute later, at an altitude of around 91 kilometers, just above the dense atmosphere and around 200 kilometers downrange. In the meantime, the second stage continued firing until 4 minutes and 47 seconds into the flight, bringing the vehicle to around 143 kilometers above the planet and a speed of around four kilometers per second, some 500 kilometers downrange from the launch site.

The third stage ignited moments before the separation of the second stage, firing its RD-0110 engine through a lattice structure connecting the two boosters and ensuring a continuous thrust during the separation process. A fraction of a second after the boosters of the second and third stage parted ways, the aft cylindrical section of the third stage split into three segments and dropped off, ensuring the fall of the second stage and the aft section into the same area on the ground.

The third stage inserted the cargo ship into an initial parking orbit 8 minutes 49 seconds after liftoff at an altitude of around 194 kilometers at scheduled time of 12:51:48 Moscow Time. (The actual separation was registered at 12:51:47.098 Moscow Time). Onboard cameras and telemetry confirmed that external elements of the spacecraft had successfully deployed in the following sequence:

• Spacecraft separation from the third stage: 12:51:47 Moscow Time;
• Deployment of the rendezvous antennas: 12:52:00 Moscow Time;
• Deployment of antennas of the RTS radio system: 12:52:02 Moscow Time;
• Deployment of solar panels: 12:52:08 Moscow Time.

Rendezvous and docking

Progress MS-27 was scheduled to dock at the Poisk module, MIM2, of the ISS on June 1, 2024, at 14:47 Moscow Time, after a two-day, 34-orbit autonomous flight.

At the time of entering orbit on May 30, 2024, Progress MS-27 was 276 degrees away from the ISS in the phasing angle. The cargo ship targeted a 239.8 by 193.2-kilometer orbit with an inclination 51.67 degrees toward the Equator and an orbital period of 88.53 minutes. At the same time, the station was projected to be in a 414.438 by 428.918-kilometer orbit.

Immediately after deploying its external elements upon entering orbit, Progress MS-27 was scheduled to conduct tests of its Kurs automated rendezvous system. The operation was scheduled to take place from 12:54 to 12:58 Moscow Time. Next, from 14:19 to 14:31 Moscow Time, the probe of the active docking mechanism aboard Progress was scheduled to be extended into its operational position.

On the first day of the flight, Progress MS-27 performed two maneuvers (32.75 and 29.37 seconds) that put it on a 305 by 319-kilometer orbit.

On June 1, 2024, the autonomous rendezvous process between Progress MS-27 and the ISS was planned according to the following timeline:

On the day of docking, cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub were at the control console of the TORU remote-control system inside the Zvezda Service Module, SM, ready to take control of the final maneuvers of the Progress MS-27 in case of problems with the fully automated rendezvous system.

On June 1, Progress MS-27 completed the initial rendezvous with the ISS as planned and began flyaround of the station to align itself with the Poisk module at around 14:20 Moscow Time. Once in position at around 160 meters from the ISS, the cargo ship performed a roll maneuver and then proceded with the final approach, achieving contact at 14:43:05 Moscow Time, according to Roskosmos. According to data from Russian mission control, the docking process was completed at 14:47:59 Moscow Time.

(To be continued)

This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak; last update: June 1, 2024

Page editor: Alain Chabot; edits: May 29, 30, 2024

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Progress MS-27 is being transported to the anechoic chamber at Site 254 for radio tests. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-27 (left) is being processed at Site 254 in Baikonur. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Soyuz-2-1a rocket with Progress MS-27 arrives at launch pad at Site 31. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-27 separates from the third stage of the launch vehicle on May 30, 2024. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos