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Progress MS-29 to re-supply ISS

The fourth and final Russian cargo supply mission to the International Space Station, ISS, in 2024, is scheduled to lift off on a Soyuz-2-1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 21. Two days later, Progress MS-29 cargo ship is expected to deliver around 2.5 tons of supplies to the 72nd expedition aboard the outpost.

Progress MS-29 mission at a glance:

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Progress MS-29 delivery mission

According to Roskosmos, Progress MS-29 was scheduled to deliver a total of 2,487 kilograms of cargo to the station, including 1,155 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 869 kilograms of propellant for the station's propulsion system (INSIDER CONTENT), 420 kilograms of drinking water and 43 kilograms of compressed nitrogen for replenishing the atmosphere of the ISS.

The deliverable payloads included materials and hardware for science experiments and scientific programs identified as Splankh, Lazma, Vzaimodeistvie-2, Separatsiya, Vampir, Fulleren, BTN-Neitron-2, 3D-pechat', according to Roskosmos.

Progress MS-29 launch campaign

In early revisions of the ISS schedule appearing as early as 2014, the final Russian cargo launch to the ISS in 2024 was penciled for October 16, but by 2023, what would become the Progress MS-29 mission drifted to November 2024.

The delivery of the Progress MS-29 spacecraft to the Baikonur launch site was reported on June 17, 2024.

The Soyuz-2-1a launch vehicle for the mission was reported arriving at the Tyuratam railroad junction near Baikonur spaceport on June 25, 2024, aboard a 28-car train also carrying components of the rocket for the Soyuz MS-26 mission.

In one of the first major milestones of the launch campaign, Progress MS-29 was placed into a vacuum chamber at Site 254 in Baikonur on Oct. 11, 2024, for a series of air leak checks which were completed by October 16. The routine testing of the ship's solar panels was performed on Nov. 1, 2024.

By Nov. 11, 2024, the spacecraft went through balancing and weighing and was transported to a fueling facility for loading of pressurized gases and propellant components. The fueling operations were completed by Nov. 12, 2024.

The cargo ship was then returned to its processing building, where it was connected to its launch vehicle adapter on Nov. 14, 2024, and rolled inside its protective fairing on Nov. 15, 2024. The completed payload section was transferred to the vehicle assembly building at Site 31 on November 16, where it was integrated with the Soyuz-2-1a rocket on Nov. 17, 2024. The State Commission then cleared the vehicle for the rollout to the launch pad, which took place on the morning of November 18.

On Nov. 19, 2024, the previous Progress MS-28 cargo ship, then docked at the ISS, performed a previously unscheduled engine firing to avoid "a piece of satellite debris," NASA said. The maneuver raised the station's orbit, but the launch of the Progress MS-29 spacecraft remained unaffected, according to the US space agency. Nevertheless, within 24 hours after the collision avoidance maneuver, the scheduled time of docking between the ISS and the arriving Progress MS-29 on Nov. 23, 2024, was adjusted from 17:40:12 Moscow Time (14:40 GMT) to 17:35:56 Moscow Time (14:35 GMT).

Progress MS-29 launch profile

A Soyuz-2-1a rocket, carrying the Progress MS-28 cargo ship, is set to lift off from Pad 6 at Site 31 in Baikonur on Nov. 21, 2024, at 15:22:24 Moscow Time (7:22 a.m. EST).

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 will head 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 should separate 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 will 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 will then ignite 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 later, the boosters of the second and third stage will part ways, the aft cylindrical section of the third stage will split into three segments and drop off, ensuring the fall of the second stage and the aft section into the same area on the ground.

The third stage will complete firing its engine and release the cargo ship into an initial parking orbit 8 minutes 49 seconds after liftoff at an altitude of around 194 kilometers.

Rendezvous and docking

Progress MS-28 is scheduled to dock at the zenith (sky-facing) port of the Poisk module, MIM1, a part of the Russian ISS Segment, on Nov. 23, 2024, at 17:35 Moscow Time (9:35 a.m. EST), after a two-day, 34-orbit autonomous flight.

(To be continued)

This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak; last update: November 20, 2024

Page editor: Alain Chabot; Last edit: November 20, 2024

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Progress MS-29 during pre-launch processing at Site 254 in Baikonur in October 2024. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Progress MS-29 is being prepared for integration with its launch vehicle adapter. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Payload section of the Progress MS-29 spacecraft is being integrated with the third stage of the Soyuz-2-1a launch vehicle. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos

Soyuz-2-1a rocket with Progress MS-29 rolls out to the launch pad on Nov. 18, 2024. Click to enlarge. Credit: Roskosmos