Soyuz MS-12
Photo Credit: ESA/NASA/T. Pesquet
Launches
The Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft embarked on 1 flight(s), showcasing its capability of Manned and Cargo ISS Logistics, Lifeboat and designed with a flight life of 210 days while docked. Notably, it boasts a crew capacity accommodating up to 3 astronauts. Soyuz MS-12 transports Aleksey Ovchinin, Christina Koch and Nick Hague on Expedition 59 to the International Space Station.
Soyuz is a series of spacecraft designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau (now RKK Energia) in the 1960s that remains in service today. The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Soviet Manned Lunar programme. The Soyuz spacecraft is launched on a Soyuz rocket, the most frequently used and most reliable launch vehicle in the world to date. The Soyuz rocket design is based on the Vostok launcher, which in turn was based on the 8K74 or R-7A Semyorka, a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile. All Soyuz spacecraft are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
- Serial Number: Soyuz MS 11F732A48 #742
- In Space: No
- Height: 7.48 m
- Diameter: 2.72 m
- Status: Single Use
History
Soyuz MS is the final planned upgrade of the Soyuz spacecraft.
Major changes include:
- more efficient solar panels
- modified engine positions for redundancy
- new Kurs NA approach and docking system
- new TsVM-101 computer
- unified digital command/telemetry system (MBITS) to relay telemetry via satellite, and control spacecraft when out of sight of ground stations
- GLONASS/GPS and Cospas-Sarsat satellite systems for more accurate location afterlanding
Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)
The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.
