On March 14, the State Commission will decide on the readiness to export the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-21 manned spacecraft to the Baikonur launch complex
MOSCOW, February 22. /tass/. The State Commission approved the launch date of the new expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 18. This is stated in the message of Roscosmos, distributed on Tuesday.
"The State Commission approved the proposal of S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia approved by the Council of Chief Designers (part of the state Corporation Roscosmos) On the launch of the Soyuz MS-21 manned spacecraft with the crew of the 67th expedition to the International Space Station on March 18, 2022," the message reads.
The state corporation noted that on March 14, the state commission will make a decision on the readiness to export the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-21 manned spacecraft to the Baikonur launch complex, on March 17, the state commission will have to approve the main and backup crews of the expedition, on March 18 - to make a decision on the readiness of the rocket for refueling and launch.
"The State Commission also accepted the proposal of the technical management to complete the flight of the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft with the ISS-66 crew - Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hai on March 30, 2022," the message says.
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft is scheduled for 18:55 Moscow time on March 18. It is assumed that Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov will go to the ISS on the ship. The backup crew includes Sergey Prokopyev, Anna Kikina and Dmitry Petelin. The flight to the station will take place according to a two-turn scheme (about three hours).
