Progress MS-03 explained

Progress MS-03
Names List:Progress 64P
Mission Type:ISS resupply
Operator:Roscosmos
Cospar Id:2016-045A
Satcat:41670
Mission Duration:199 days
Spacecraft:Progress MS-03 s/n 433
Spacecraft Type:Progress-MS
Manufacturer:RKK Energia
Launch Mass:7281 kg
Payload Mass:2425 kg
Launch Date:16 July 2016, 21:41:45 UTC
Launch Rocket:Soyuz-U s/n G15000-147
Launch Site:Baikonur, Site 31/6
Launch Contractor:Progress Rocket Space Centre
Disposal Type:Deorbited
Decay Date:31 January 2017
Orbit Reference:Geocentric orbit
Orbit Regime:Low Earth orbit
Orbit Inclination:51.65°
Apsis:gee
Docking:
Docking Type:dock
Docking Date:19 July 2016, 00:20 UTC
Undocking Date:31 January 2017, 14:25 UTC
Time Docked:196 days
Cargo Mass:2425 kg
Cargo Mass Press:1230 kg
Cargo Mass Fuel:705 kg
Cargo Mass Gas:50 kg
Cargo Mass Water:420 kg
Programme:Progress ISS Resupply
Previous Mission:Progress MS-02
Next Mission:Progress MS-04

Progress MS-03, identified by NASA as Progress 64P, was a Progress spaceflight operated by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). It was the first Progress MS to have an external compartment for releasing satellites.

History

Progress was the first cargo spacecraft to fly in space (1978), and also the first to bring freight back to Earth, thanks to a Raduga capsule. It was developed to supply the Salyut 6 space station and which was subsequently supply the crews of Salyut 7, Mir and from the International Space Station. It enabled space station crews to stay in space by bringing consumables (food, water, fuel, oxygen) and spare parts.

The Progress-MS is a uncrewed freighter based on the Progress-M featuring improved avionics. This improved variant first launched on 21 December 2015. It has the following improvements:

Pre-launch

The launch of Progress MS-03 was originally scheduled for on 30 April 2016, but was postponed as a result of an overall reshuffle of the flight manifest for the International Space Station. At the beginning of June 2016, the mission was rescheduled from 4 July to 17 July 2016.

Launch

Progress MS-03 was launched on 16 July 2016 at 21:41:45 (UTC) on a Soyuz-U from the Baikonur Site 31/6 in Kazakhstan. At the time of launch, the International Space Station was flying at 420 km over Eastern Chad.

Docking

The Progress MS-03 mission used the two-day, 34-orbit trip to the station instead of the currently available six-hour rendezvous profile. Progress MS-03 docked with the nadir docking port of the Pirs module on 19 July 2016 at 00:20 UTC.

Cargo

The Progress MS-03 spacecraft delivered 2,425 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for the six members of the Expedition 48 crew.The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS:

Undocking and decay

The Progress MS-03 cargo ship undocked from the Pirs, on 31 January 2017, at 14:25 UTC, Roskosmos announced. The three-minute braking maneuver was scheduled to begin at 17:34 UTC, followed by reentry into the dense atmosphere at 18:10 UTC. Surviving debris of the spacecraft were calculated to impact the Pacific Ocean at 18:24 UTC on the same day.