Russian Progress 93 Cargo Ship Heads to Space Station With 2.8 Tons of Supplies

The uncrewed Progress vehicle lifted off at 11:54 a.m. EDT (1554 GMT; 8:54 p.m. local time) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, riding atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket. The three-stage launch vehicle, a workhorse of the Russian space program, executed its sequence without incident.

At 1 minute 58 seconds into flight, the four strap-on boosters separated, followed shortly by the shutdown and separation of the rocket’s central core after just under five minutes of operation. The third stage’s RD-0110 engine then ignited, placing Progress 93 into a preliminary low-Earth orbit. Orbital insertion was completed about nine minutes after liftoff, with spacecraft separation and solar array deployment confirmed.

Progress 93, operated by Roscosmos, is carrying approximately 2.8 metric tons of cargo for the station’s Expedition 73 crew. The manifest includes food rations, scientific equipment, water, compressed gases, and propellant to refuel the station’s thrusters. The propellant can also be used to perform orbit-raising maneuvers, counteracting atmospheric drag that gradually lowers the ISS’s altitude.

The spacecraft is on a two-day rendezvous profile, using a series of engine burns to align its orbit with that of the ISS. Docking with the Russian Zvezda service module is scheduled for Saturday, September 13, at 1:27 p.m. EDT (1727 GMT). NASA and Roscosmos will provide live coverage of the approach, with NASA’s broadcast beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

Once docked, the Progress will remain attached for roughly six months. During that time, it will be used not only for cargo transfer but also as a “space tug,” assisting with periodic reboosts of the ISS’s orbit. At the end of its mission, it will be loaded with trash and discarded hardware before performing a controlled destructive reentry, burning up over the Pacific Ocean.

Progress spacecraft, in service since 1978, are based on the crewed Soyuz design but feature a pressurized cargo module, a refueling compartment, and avionics optimized for automated flight. They dock autonomously using the Kurs navigation system, though cosmonauts aboard the station can assume manual control if required.

Today’s launch marks the continuation of an intensive schedule of ISS logistics operations. Just days after Progress 93’s arrival, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus NG-23 mission is set to launch on Sunday, September 14, at 6:11 p.m. EDT (2211 GMT) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Cygnus, like Progress, is a single-use spacecraft that burns up on reentry. In contrast, SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft is uniquely designed for recovery and reuse, splashing down in the ocean with experiment samples and station equipment.

By Azhar