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ISS orbit to be raised before launch of Soyuz spacecraft with Japanese tourists

The station’s average orbital altitude will be increased by 1.3 km to about 420.76 km above the Earth’s surface, Roscosmos said

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) will be further adjusted to prepare for the arrival of a Soyuz MS-20 crewed spacecraft that will deliver two tourists from Japan to the orbital outpost in December, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Monday.

"In order to create the ballistic conditions before the delivery into orbit and the landing of a Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft, a new adjustment of the orbit of the International Space Station is scheduled for November 16, 2021," Roscosmos said.

The maneuver will be conducted using the thrusters of a Progress MS-18 resupply ship. According to preliminary information, the thrusters will be fired at 20:40 Moscow time for 478 seconds, the Russian federal space agency specified.

"The station’s average orbital altitude will be increased by 1.3 km to about 420.76 km above the Earth’s surface," Roscosmos said.

Currently, seven crewmembers are working aboard the ISS: Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov, NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Thomas Pesquet and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft with two space tourists is scheduled for December 8, 2021. The space travelers will spend 12 days in orbit. Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will be the commander of the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft that will also carry Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and his business assistant Yozo Hirano.

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