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Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft begins mission to bring cosmonauts back to Earth

24 February 2023 02:16 (UTC +04:00)

Russia’s Soyuz 2.1a carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft blasted off from Pad 31 of the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan early on Friday, a TASS correspondent reported from the Mission Control Center on Friday, APA reports.

Approximately nine minutes after the launch, the spacecraft will separate from the upper stage of the rocket. Its docking with the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for 04:01 Moscow time on February 26.

There will be no cosmonauts aboard the Soyuz MS-23, but it will deliver 429 kg of cargo to the ISS for the crew. The supplies will include medical control and examination means, station cleaning and atmosphere management tools, air revitalization and water supply equipment and apparatus for scientific experiments

Vladimir Soloviev, the general designer for manned systems at Russia’s Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia and the flight director of the Russian segment of the ISS, said on Monday that the spaceship will deliver three times as much food as usual.