MOSCOW, April 6. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft detached from the Poisk mini-research module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) before its re-docking, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos announced in a live broadcast on its website on Thursday.

The re-docking maneuver with the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is being carried out by Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev in manual mode. TASS special reporter in space, Roscosmos cosmonaut Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio are staying inside the Soyuz MS-23 spaceship together with Prokopyev.

The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is set to re-dock to the orbital outpost in less than an hour. The docking with the Prichal nodal module of the ISS Russian segment is scheduled for 12:23 p.m. Moscow time.

As Roscosmos reported earlier, the re-docking maneuver is required to provide for safe extra-vehicular activity under a Russian program. The spacewalks by Prokopyev and Petelin are scheduled for spring/summer of this year. The crew is actively preparing for this activity, it said.

The crewless Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft lifted off on February 24 and docked to the orbital outpost two days later. The spaceship delivered almost 430 kg of cargo to the space station, including equipment for scientific experiments and foodstuffs.

The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft is expected to bring back to Earth Roscosmos cosmonauts Prokopyev and Petelin and NASA astronaut Rubio whose mission aboard the orbital outpost has been extended after the docked Soyuz MS-22 spaceship sustained damage in December 2022.