MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. The average orbital altitude of the International Space Station (ISS) has been adjusted using the thrusters of the Progress MS-14 freighter, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement on Friday.

"On April 2, 2021, the Russian Mission Control Center specialists (TsNIIMash, part of Roscosmos) adjusted the International Space Station orbit in accordance with the station’s flight program," the statement says.

The maneuver was carried out with the engines of the Progress MS-14 freighter docked to the Zvezda service module. The engines started at 15.14 Moscow time (12.14 UTC) and burned for 129.3 seconds (more than two minutes). As a result, the ISS orbit was boosted by 360 meters to reach 419.8 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.

"Currently, TsNIIMash Mission Control Center specialists are analyzing the telemetry data and defining the ISS orbit parameters," the statement reads.

The maneuver was needed to form ballistic conditions prior to the Soyuz MS-18 crewed spacecraft launch and Soyuz MS-17 landing.

Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and also NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins are due to return to Earth in the Soyuz MS-17. The next Soyuz mission, Soyuz MS-18, is scheduled to launch on April 9, 2021.

"The spacecraft will take Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei to the station," the statement says.