MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) will be raised on May 14 to create ballistic conditions for the launch of the Progress MS-20 space freighter, the press service of Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos has told TASS.
"A yet another adjustment of the International Space Station’s orbit is scheduled for May 14, 2022 with the goal of creating ballistic conditions ahead of the Progress MS-20 space freighter’s launch," Roscosmos said.
Engines of the Progress MS-18 cargo spacecraft will be switched on at 21:20 Moscow time and will work for 546.8 seconds.
"After the adjustment, the average altitude of the station’s orbit is supposed to be raised by 1.59 kilometers, to 418.07 kilometers," the Russian space agency said.
The launch of Progress MS-20 atop a Soyuz 2.1a carrier rocket is scheduled for June 3, 2022.
The current ISS crew is comprised of Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveyev and Sergey Korsakov, NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines and Jessica Watkins, as well as European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.