Courtesy of AGI's Launch Notification e-mails. AGI's E-mails are sent after every launch and include key spacecraft information such as: the date, time, launch site, launcher, international number, name, and owner. Get more information on thousands of satellites and other vehicles by viewing STK models, animations, and our encyclopedic "Spacecraft Digest" database at www.agi.com/scdigest.
New Launch: 2010 October 27, 1511 UTC
Site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
Launcher: Soyuz-U
International Designator(s): 2010-055A
SSC Name Owner
37196 PROGRESS-M 08M CIS
"Just a week before the shuttle Discovery arrives at the International Space Station for its construction mission, a Russian resupply ship has launched to deliver a load of equipment, fuel and provisions to the orbiting science laboratory.
"Liftoff of the cargo freighter atop a Soyuz booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan occurred today at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT).
"The preliminary orbit was achieved after a nine-minute ascent provided by the three-stage rocket, and onboard commands were issued to unfurl the craft's communications and navigation antennas and extend two power-generating solar arrays that span 35 feet [11 m].
"A series of precise engine firings over the next three days will guide the Progress toward an automated rendezvous with the station. The docking is slated for Saturday at 12:39 p.m. EDT (1639 GMT).
"The 24-foot [7-m] long ship will attach itself to the open port on the Pirs compartment, which was vacated Monday when a previous Progress was jettisoned.
"Today's launch was known in the station's assembly matrix as Progress mission 40P. The spacecraft's formal Russian designation is Progress M-08M.
"The craft will bring two-and-a-half tons of supplies to the station. The "dry" cargo tucked aboard the Progress amounts to 2,804 pounds [1,272 kg] in the form of food, spare parts, life support gear and experiment hardware.
"The refueling module carries 1,918 pounds [870 kg] of propellant for transfer into the Russian segment of the complex to feed the station's maneuvering thrusters. The vessel also has 498 pounds [226 kg] of water and 110 pounds [50 kg] of oxygen.
"It'll remain attached to the station through mid-January."
Source: Spaceflght Now, "Cargo craft begins pursuit of International Space Station"
