Progress MS-20

Progress MS-20 (Russian: Прогресс МC-20), Russian production No.450, identified by NASA as Progress 81P, is a Progress spaceflight launched by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). It is the 173rd flight of a Progress spacecraft.

Progress MS-20

Progress MS-20 approaches ISS
Names	Progress 81P
Mission type	ISS resupply
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2022-059A
SATCAT no.	52795
Mission duration	248 days and 23 hours
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Progress MS-20 no.450
Spacecraft type	Progress MS
Manufacturer	Energia
Launch mass	7000 kg
Start of mission
Launch date	3 June 2022, 09:32:00
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1a
Launch site	Baikonur, Site 31/6
Contractor	RKTs Progress
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	07 February 2023, 08:37 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.65°
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Zvezda aft
Docking date	03 June 2022, 13:03 UTC
Undocking date	07 February 2023, 04:56 UTC
Time docked	248 days and 15 hours
Progress flights ← Progress MS-19 Progress MS-21 →

History

The Progress-MS is an uncrewed freighter based on the Progress-M featuring improved avionics. This improved variant first launched on 21 December 2015. It has the following improvements:^[1][2][3][4]

• New external compartment that enables it to deploy satellites. Each compartment can hold up to four launch containers. First time installed on Progress MS-03.
• Enhanced redundancy thanks to the addition of a backup system of electrical motors for the docking and sealing mechanism.
• Improved Micrometeoroid (MMOD) protection with additional panels in the cargo compartment.
• Luch Russian relay satellites link capabilities enable telemetry and control even when not in direct view of ground radio stations.
• GNSS autonomous navigation enables real time determination of the status vector and orbital parameters dispensing with the need of ground station orbit determination.
• Real time relative navigation thanks to direct radio data exchange capabilities with the space station.
• New digital radio that enables enhanced TV camera view for the docking operations.
• Unified Command Telemetry System (UCTS) replaces previous Ukrainian Chezara Kvant-V as the Progress spacecraft's on-board radio and antenna/feeder system.
• Replacement of the Kurs A with Kurs NA digital system.

Launch

On 3 February 2021, the State Commission for Testing of the Piloted Space Systems, chaired by Roskosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, approved the latest ISS schedule for 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

A Soyuz-2.1a launched Progress MS-20 to the International Space Station from Baikonur Site 31 on 3 June 2022^[5][6] on a fast-track trajectory.^[7][8] Around 3 hours 20 minutes after the launch, Progress MS-20 automatically docked with Zvezda and continue its mission for 196 days, supporting Expedition 67 and Expedition 68 missions aboard the ISS.

Cargo

The MS-20 cargo capacity is 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) as follows:

• Dry cargo: 1,458 kg (3,214 lb)
• Fuel: 599 kg (1,321 lb)
• Oxygen: 40 kg (88 lb)
• Water: 420 kg (930 lb)

A 3D printer will also be delivered to ISS by progress, along with 4 Russian experimental cubesats (ЮЗГУ No.11 & 12 / SWSU No11 & 12 plus Циолковский-Рязань 1 & 2/ Tsiolkovsky-Ryazan 1 & 2),^[9] which were deployed from the ISS by Russian Cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev during EVA 3 spacewalk. See 2022 List of spacecraft deployed from the International Space Station.

See also

• Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station