Two cargo spacecraft en route to space station

Two cargo spacecraft en route to space station

Two unpiloted cargo spacecraft are racing to catch up to and rendezvous with the International Space Station after flawless launches on opposite sides of the planet.

At 17:29 UTC Dec. 5, 2019, SpaceX launched its CRS-19 Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. About 16 hours later, at 9:34 UTC Dec. 6, Russia launched its Progress MS-13 freighter atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

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Progress MS-12 makes fast-track flight to ISS

Progress MS-12 makes fast-track flight to ISS

Two orbits after launching from Kazakhstan, Russia’s Progress MS-12 cargo spacecraft rendezvoused and docked with the International Space Station. Inside the freighter is some 2,400 kilograms of hardware and crew supplies bound for the outpost and its six-person Expedition 60 crew.

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Progress MS-11 launches toward ISS on 2-orbit trek

Progress MS-11 launches toward ISS on 2-orbit trek

Russia launched a Soyuz rocket with the latest Progress resupply freighter bound for the International Space Station, docking nearly 3.5 hours later.

Progress MS-11 launched atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket from site 31 at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Liftoff took place at 11:01 UTC April 4, 2019, setting the stage for the spacecraft to rendezvous with the outpost just over three hours later.

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Progress MS-10 arrives at ISS

Progress MS-10 arrives at ISS

Taking two days to reach the International Space Station, Russia’s Progress MS-10 rendezvous and docked with the orbiting outpost’s Zvezda service module.

Progress MS-10 made contact with the aft port of the outpost's Zvezda module 19:28 UTC Nov. 18, 2018. Several seconds later, the vehicle’s docking probe was retracted to bring the craft in contact with the docking ring for a hard mate.

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Progress MS-08 departs ISS

Progress MS-08 departs ISS

Progress MS-08 undocked from the International Space Station after just over six months attached to the orbiting outpost’s Zvezda service module. Rather than an immediate deorbit, however, the cargo freighter will continue orbiting Earth for a week.

Undocking occurred at 02:16 UTC Aug. 23, 2018. Once the unpiloted Progress MS-08 was safely away from the station, the second phase of its mission began.

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