A Russian cargo spacecraft launched toward the International Space Station (ISS) this afternoon (July 3), hauling several tons of cargo to the orbiting lab.
A Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today at 3:32 p.m. EDT (1932 GMT; 12:32 a.m. on July 4 local time in Kazakhstan), sending the uncrewed Progress 92 freighter aloft.
Progress 92 is hauling about three tons of food, fuel and other supplies to the ISS. If all goes according to plan, the robotic freighter will dock with the orbiting lab’s Poisk module on Saturday (July 5) at 5:27 p.m. EDT (2127 GMT).
NASA will provide a livestream of rendezvous and docking activities via NASA+ beginning at 4:45 p.m. EDT (2045 GMT) on Saturday. Space.com will simulcast the stream if the agency makes it available.
Progress 92 will take the place of the Progress 90 vehicle, which undocked from the same Poisk port on Tuesday (July 1) after a roughly seven-month stay. Progress 90 will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere shortly — the same fate that awaits Progress 92 about six months from now.
Progress 91, which launched on Feb. 27, remains at the station, docked to its Zvezda service module.
Progress is one of three cargo ships that ferry supplies to the ISS these days. The other two are private American vehicles: Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus and SpaceX’s Dragon.
Like Progress, Cygnus is designed for one-time use, ending its space stays with a fiery death dive. But Dragon is reusable and can therefore haul scientific samples and other materials from the ISS safely back down to Earth.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 3:50 p.m. ET on July 3 with news of successful launch.