ISS: Russian Soyuz spacecraft docks with the International Space Station

The passengers left and, most importantly, arrived safely. The Soyuz spacecraft, which took off two days ago with the first ever Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya on board, docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday, the Russian space agency Roscosmos reported on Telegram. The Soyuz MS-25 crew includes American astronaut Tracy Dyson, experienced Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky and 33-year-old Marina Vasilevskaya.

Tracy Dyson will spend 184 days in orbit, and her colleagues will return to Earth on April 6 after 14 days in space, Roscosmos said. The spacecraft took off on Saturday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after the first test was canceled at the last minute earlier this week. The delay, announced while the rocket was already on the launch pad, was seen as a new setback for Russia’s space sector, which has been struggling for years due to funding problems, embarrassing failures and corruption scandals.

Leaks and failures

In recent months, three Russian spacecraft docked to the Russian segment of the ISS have suffered coolant leaks. In August, the first Russian probe sent to the Moon from the USSR crashed onto the lunar surface. The Russian space sector is also limited by a lack of innovation, with most of its systems based on generally reliable but outdated Soviet technology.

After the completion of the American shuttle program in 2011, Soyuz rockets received the exclusive right to manned flights to the ISS. A monopoly beneficial for Roscosmos, which, however, ended in 2020 with the arrival of the private company SpaceX of billionaire Elon Musk.

Russian-Western space cooperation has also been hampered by the Russian offensive in Ukraine and subsequent sanctions. The ISS represents one of the rare areas of cooperation between Moscow and Washington that is still ongoing. But Russia wants to end its involvement in the ISS after 2024 to concentrate on building its own space station.