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Progress MS-28 re-supplies ISS

The third Russian cargo supply mission to the International Space Station, ISS, in 2024, departed Cosmodrome Baikonur in Kazakhstan in the early hours of August 15. Two days later, it delivered nearly 2.5 tons of supplies to Expedition 71 aboard the ISS.

Progress MS-28 mission at a glance:

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Progress MS-28 delivery mission

According to Roskosmos, Progress MS-28 was scheduled to deliver a total of 2,621 kilograms of cargo to the station, including 1,201 kilograms of hardware and equipment for the station, materials for experiments, food, clothing, medical and hygiene supplies in its pressurized cargo compartment. At the same time, the vehicle's refueling module was also filled with 950 kilograms of propellant for the station's propulsion system (INSIDER CONTENT), 420 kilograms of drinking water and 50 kilograms of nitrogen for replenishing the atmosphere of the ISS.

The deliverable payloads included the SPIN-X1-MVN spectrometer for registering X-ray sources for the All-Sky Survey astrophysics project. The instrument was developed at the Space Research Institute, IKI, in Moscow and was scheduled to be installed by spacewalking cosmonauts on the exterior of the Zvezda Service Module. Once operational, the instrument will be used to survey up to 84 percent of the celestial sphere during 72-day cycles, which are expected to be repeated up to 15 times during a three-year period, Roskosmos said.

The payload also included an acoustic sensor for registering the sound during the breathing of the cosmonauts for the Forsirovanny Vydokh (forced exhale) experiment studying lungs function in long-duration space flight. Also, a pulse-wave measuring kit is being delivered for the Endoteliy experiment which tries to establish a link between the magnitosphere of the Earth and cardio-vascular disorders.

Finally, Progress MS-28 will carry materials for the ongoing experiments, such as Aseptik, Biodegradatsiya, Virtual, Vynoslivost, Lazma, Neiroimmunitet and Fitobioreaktor.

Progress MS-28 launch campaign

In early revisions of the ISS scheduled, appearing as early as 2014, a Russian cargo launch was penciled for July 1, but by the Fall of 2023, what would become the Progress MS-28 mission drifted to Aug. 15, 2024.

The assembly of Vehicle No. 458 for the Progress MS-28 mission was completed at RKK Energia's production plant, ZEM, in Korolev near Moscow in the first half of 2023, and before the end of November of that year, the spacecraft went through initial phase of integrated factory tests. After completion of the tests, the spacecraft was loaded into a railway transport container for the trip to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The delivery of the spacecraft to Baikonur was reported on Nov. 29, 2023.

The active launch campaign started at the end of June 2024, when specialists performed integrated tests of the vehicle and autonomous tests of its radio systems in the anechoic chamber. From July 5 to July 10, 2024, Progress MS-28 underwent air leak checks in the vacuum chamber at Hall 103, after which it was returned to its processing rig at Site 254.

The routine test of the ship's solar panels with their exposure to a light array was conducted on July 26, 2024.

On July 22, 2024, preparations started at the fueling station at Site 31 for irreversible operations with the vehicle, including the loading of hypergolic propellants and pressurized gases, which was performed in the first week of August 2024.

On Aug. 8, 2024, the spacecraft was attached to a launch vehicle adapter which serves as the interface with its Soyuz rocket and, the next day, the spacecraft was rolled inside its protective payload fairing. On Aug. 10, 2024, the assembled payload section was then transferred to the vehicle assembly building at Site 31 where it was integrated with the Soyuz-2-1a rocket. The vehicle was rolled out to the launch pad at Site 31 on the morning of Aug. 12, 2024.

Progress MS-28 launch profile

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket, carrying the Progress MS-28 cargo ship, lifted off from Pad 6 at Site 31 in Baikonur on Aug. 15, 2024, at 06:20:18.472 Moscow Time (11:20 p.m. EDT on August 14).

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 06:22:16 Moscow Time; L+117.85 seconds), 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 06:23:21 Moscow Time; L+183.39 seconds), 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 (06:25:05 Moscow Time; L+287.42 seconds), 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 then 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 at L+297.07 seconds, ensuring the fall of the second stage and the aft section into the same area on the ground.

The third stage fired its engine until L+525.82 seconds and released the cargo ship at L+529.12 seconds into an initial parking orbit 8 minutes 49 seconds after liftoff (at 06:29:07 Moscow Time) at an altitude of around 194 kilometers. The mission targeted a 240.0 by 193.1-kilometer initial orbit with an inclination 51.67 degrees toward the Equator.

Rendezvous and docking

Progress MS-28 was scheduled to dock at the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module, SM, a part of the Russian ISS Segment on Aug. 17, 2024, at 08:56:45 Moscow Time (1:56 a.m. EDT), after a two-day, 34-orbit autonomous flight.

At the time of the cargo ship launch, the ISS was projected to be in a 413.682 by 432.906-kilometer orbit.

From 06:31 to 06:35 Moscow Time, or around two minutes after reaching orbit on Aug. 15, 2024, Progress MS-28 was scheduled to perform a standard test of the Kurs automated rendezvous system and another 1.5 hours later, from 07:56 to 08:08 Moscow Time, the spacecraft was expected to extend the probe of its docking mechanism into an operational position.

After completing "phasing" of its orbit with that of the ISS in two days, Progress MS-28 approached the station as planned on Aug. 17, 2024. Cosmonauts Nikolai Chub and Oleg Kononenko, aboard the ISS, activated the TORU remote-controlled system in a backup mode to the Kurs rendezvous system which performed as planned.

Progress MS-28 was scheduled to begin an autonomous rendezvous with the ISS during the cargo ship's 34th orbit, which was expected to have the following parameters: a perigee — 402.466 kilometers and an apogee — 442.053 kilometers. Around the same time, the ISS was flying in the 413.510 by 431.944-kilometer orbit.

As usual, the autonomous rendezvous process included six major orbit-correction maneuvers using main SKD engine and small DPO thrusters on Aug. 17, 2024:

The autonomous rendezvous process between Progress MS-27 and the ISS was planned according to the following timeline:

After completing a flyaround of the station to align itself with the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module, Progress MS-28 performed the final approach and docking at 08:53 Moscow Time (1:53 a.m. EDT) on Aug. 17, 2024, as the two spacecraft were orbiting the Earth over the Southern Pacific Ocean.

According to data from the Russian mission control center in Korolev, initial contact between the cargo ship and the station took place at 08:53:06 Moscow Time. All the mechanical connections and electrical interfaces of the docking mechanisms were then successfully made and the docking process was completed with a closure of the hooks at 08:58:23 Moscow Times.

Progress MS-28 performs ISS orbit correction

On Aug. 28, 2024, Progress MS-28, docked at the aft end of the Zvezda Service Module, SM, performed its first boost of the station's orbit. According to Roskosmos, the propulsion system of the cargo ship was activated at 04:46 Moscow Time (9:46 p.m. EDT on August 27) and fired for 1,075.42 seconds. The maneuver increased the ISS' velocity by 1.95 meters per second and raised its average altitude by 3.4 kilometers to 419.41 kilometers.

The correction was performed to form orbital parameters of the station for the departure and landing of the Soyuz MS-25 crew vehicle and for the launch of Soyuz MS-26, Roskosmos said.

Progress MS-28 performs second ISS orbit correction

On Sept. 5, 2024, Progress MS-28, performed another boost of the station's orbit. According to Roskosmos, the propulsion system of the cargo ship was activated at 22:45 Moscow Time (3:45 p.m. EDT) and fired for 781.98 seconds. The maneuver increased the ISS' velocity by 1.42 meters per second and raised its average altitude by 2.48 kilometers to 420.7 kilometers.

The correction completed forming orbital parameters of the station for the departure and landing of the Soyuz MS-25 crew vehicle and for the launch of Soyuz MS-26, Roskosmos said.

Progress MS-28 performs third ISS orbit correction

On Oct. 4, 2024, Progress MS-28, performed another maneuver to maintain the ISS orbit. According to Roskosmos, the propulsion system of the cargo ship was activated at 11:44 Moscow Time (4:44 a.m. EDT) and fired for 1,207.62 seconds. The maneuver increased the ISS' velocity by 1.66 meters per second and raised its average altitude by 2.9 kilometers to 419 kilometers.

Following the operation, Roskosmos said that Progress cargo ships had performed 208 maneuvers out of 366 boosts of the ISS orbit.

Progress MS-28 performs fourth ISS orbit correction

On Nov. 13, 2024, Progress MS-28 performed a maneuver to prepare for the arrival of the Progress MS-29 cargo ship. According to Roskosmos, the propulsion system of the cargo ship was activated at 19:47 Moscow Time (11:47 a.m. EDT) and fired for 1,894.4 seconds. The maneuver increased the ISS' velocity by 2.82 meters per second and raised its average altitude by 4.9 kilometers to 417.23 kilometers.

Following the operation, Roskosmos said that Progress cargo ships had performed 209 maneuvers out of 368 boosts of the ISS orbit.

Progress MS-28 performs two space junk avoidance maneuvers

On Nov. 19, 2024, Progress MS-28, docked at the ISS, performed an engine firing to avoid "a piece of satellite debris," NASA said. The maneuver lasted 5 minutes 31 seconds, raising the station's orbit, but the launch of the Progress MS-29 spacecraft, scheduled for November 21, remained unaffected, according to the US space agency. (Coincidently, within 24 hours after the collision avoidance maneuver, the scheduled time of docking between the ISS and the arriving Progress MS-29 was adjusted from 17:40:12 Moscow Time (14:40 GMT) to 17:35:56 Moscow Time (14:35 GMT) on Nov. 23, 2024.)

Roskosmos said that the propulsion system of the Progress MS-28 spacecraft was activated at 23:09 Moscow Time and fired for 330.90 seconds, delivering 0.5 meters per second in velocity change and increasing the station's altitude by around 800 meters. After the maneuver, the ISS was in a 430.86 by 416.20-kilometer orbit (an average altitude 417.35 kilometers) with an orbital period of 92.86 minutes and an inclination 51.66 degrees toward the Equator, according to Roskosmos.

Progress MS-28 had to repeat the maneuver again on Nov. 25, 2024, to miss another satellite fragment.

This time, the engine firing started at 12:49 Moscow Time and lasted 211.96 seconds. The maneuver delivered 0.3 meters per second in velocity change and increased the station's orbit by 500 meters, Roskosmos said.

According to the Russian mission control, after the maneuver, the ISS was in a 417.81 by 430.40-kilometer orbit (with an average altitude of 416.99 kilometers) with an orbital period of 92.85 minutes and an inclination 51.66 degrees toward the Equator.

Next cargo mission: Progress MS-29

This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak; last update: November 26, 2024

Page editor: Alain Chabot; last edit: August 14, 2024

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Progress MS-28 during initial processing at Site 254 in Baikonur in early December 2023. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-28 is being prepared for integration with its payload fairing. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Soyuz-2-1a rocket with Progress MS-28 rolls out to the launch pad on Aug. 12, 2024. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Soyuz-2-1a rocket with Progress MS-28 shortly after rollout on the launch pad on Aug. 12, 2024. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-28 lifts off on Aug. 15, 2024. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-28 separates into an initial orbit as seen by a camera on the third stage of the launch vehicle. Credit: Roskosmos