Roscosmos has announced that the Progress MS-26 spacecraft has left its orbit, re-entered the atmosphere, and self-destructed; it is expected that the non-burned parts of the spacecraft will fall into a region devoid of vessels in the Pacific Ocean.
The Russian cargo spacecraft “Progress MS-24” launched from the Baikonur Spaceport in Kazakhstan on September 15, 2023. (Illustrative image: AFP/TTXVN)
On August 13, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) announced that the Progress MS-26 cargo spacecraft has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS), left orbit, and descended into the Pacific Ocean.
According to Roscosmos, after six months of operation on the ISS, the Progress MS-26 spacecraft has re-entered the atmosphere and self-destructed.
The spacecraft undocked from the Zvezda module at 5:00 AM Moscow time (9:00 AM the same day Vietnam time). At 8:09 AM Moscow time, the spacecraft’s propulsion system was activated to begin its descent from orbit, and it burned up for more than three minutes. Approximately 30 minutes later, the spacecraft entered Earth’s atmosphere.
Roscosmos expects that any non-burned parts of the spacecraft will fall into a vessel-free area of the Pacific Ocean at 8:49 AM Moscow time.
On February 15, the Progress MS-26 spacecraft was launched into orbit using a Soyuz-2 rocket from the Baikonur Spaceport in Kazakhstan. Two days later, it docked with the ISS.
During its mission, the spacecraft delivered water, fuel, medicine, clothing, food, and equipment to the ISS for scientific experiments. The spacecraft’s propulsion system executed six orbital adjustment maneuvers for the ISS.
For the next mission to the ISS, on August 15, Russia will launch the Progress MS-28 spacecraft from the Baikonur Spaceport. On August 17, the spacecraft will dock with the Zvezda module of the ISS.
