Mission type | Crewed mission to ISS |
---|---|
Operator | Roscosmos |
Mission duration | ~180 days (planned) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Soyuz MS |
Spacecraft type | Soyuz MS 11F732A48 |
Manufacturer | Energia |
Crew | |
Crew size | 3 |
Members | Oleg Novitsky Pyotr Dubrov Sergey Korsakov |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 10 April 2021 (planned) [1][2] |
Rocket | Soyuz-2.1a |
Launch site | Baikonur, Site 31 |
Contractor | Progress Rocket Space Centre |
End of mission | |
Landing date | 13 October 2021 (planned) |
Landing site | Kazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Inclination | 51.66° |
Docking with ISS | |
Docking port | Rassvet nadir |
Docking date | 10 April 2021 (planned)[2] |
Undocking date | 13 October 2021 (planned) |
Time docked | 195 days (planned) |
Soyuz programme (Crewed missions) |
Soyuz MS-18 is a Soyuz spaceflight planned for launch NET 10 April 2021.[1][3] It will transport three members of the Expedition 65 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). Soyuz MS-18 will be the 146th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. The crew will consist of a Russian commander and two Russian flight engineers.[4][5][6][7] The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on 13 October 2021 following 180 days in space.[3] Without an American astronaut, this launch would mark the first time in 21 years (since Soyuz TM-30 in 2000) that a Soyuz crew only includes Russian cosmonauts.[8][9] It is expected that the flight will serve as the landing vehicle for a Russian actress and film director Klim Shipenko who will launch to the ISS aboard Soyuz MS-19 and spend approximately a week in space in order to film a movie.[10]
Position | Launching Crew member | Landing Crew member |
---|---|---|
Commander | ![]() Expedition 65 Third spaceflight | |
Flight Engineer 1 | ![]() Expedition 65 First spaceflight |
![]() Film TBA First spaceflight |
Flight Engineer 2 | ![]() Expedition 65 First spaceflight |
![]() Film TBA First spaceflight |
Position | Crew member | |
---|---|---|
Commander | ![]() | |
Flight Engineer 1 | ![]() | |
Flight Engineer 2 | ![]() |
The Soyuz MS-18 crew will arrive ahead of the launch and docking of Nauka on May 2021. The UM Prichal module will launch to the International Space Station on 6 September 2021 with Progress M-UM.
The ISS flight manifest drafted by Roskosmos at the end of summer 2020, set the launch of Prichal for September 6, 2021, with the docking to Nauka's nadir port two days later.[11] One port on Prichal is equipped with an active hybrid docking port, which enables docking with the Nauka/MLM module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, enabling docking of Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as well as heavier modules and future spacecraft with modified docking systems.[12]
A spacewalk is planned by the Soyuz MS-18 crew, after the arrival of the Prichal module at the space station. This spacewalk will focus on initial provisioning of the module.[3][12]
The Prichal module will become the second addition to the Russian Orbital Segment in 2021.