ISS Altitude Raised by 0.7 Miles Ahead of New Mission Arrival - Roscosmos

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th August, 2022) The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) has been adjusted by 1.2 kilometers (0.7 miles) to a higher altitude ahead of the launch of the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship and the departure of Soyuz MS-21, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Thursday.

"On August 25 at 05:20 a. m. Moscow time (02:20 GMT), the engines of the Progress MS-20 cargo spacecraft were switched on to adjust the ISS orbit. According to preliminary data, the station's average orbital altitude increased by 1.2 km and was 416.77 km above the earth's surface after the correction maneuver," Roscosmos said.

The boost was necessary to create ballistic conditions before the launch of the Soyuz MS-22 crew ship with a new rotating mission to the station and the landing of the returning crew aboard the Soyuz MS-21, Roscosmos said.

The launch of Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft is scheduled for September 21. It will carry Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, as well as NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio to the ISS. The departing mission is scheduled to land in Kazakhstan on September 29. It will bring back to earth Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov.