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ISS orbit to be adjusted ahead of Progress MS-15 launch in July

The station’s altitude will make about 418.5 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, according to Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos

MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. The International Space Station’s (ISS) flight orbit will be raised by nearly 500 meters on July 10, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said on Monday.

"It is planned to adjust the orbit of the International Space Station on July 10, 2020 ahead of the launch of the Progress MS-15 cargo spacecraft," it said.

The adjustment maneuver will be carried out with the help of the engines of the Progress MS-14 spaceship. The engines will be switched on at 00:36 a.m. Moscow time and will be working for 138.7 seconds. "The station’s altitude will be raised by 480 meters to reach about 418.5 kilometers above the Earth’s surface," Roscosmos said.

The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-15 is scheduled to be launched from the Baikonur space center on July 23. It will deliver fuels, water and gases, as well as means of subsistence and kits for space experiments to the ISS.

The previous orbit adjustment maneuver was performed on April 19 with the help of the Zvezda module’s engines, which were switched on at 08:09 a.m. Moscow time and operated for less than one minute to create ballistic conditions ahead of the launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket.