BAIKONUR COSMODROME /Kazakhstan/, December 1. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-25 resupply ship blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport to the International Space Station (ISS), a TASS correspondent reported from the scene on Friday.
In about nine minutes, the space freighter separated from the rocket’s upper stage. The Progress cargo craft will approach the orbital outpost two days after its blastoff. Its docking with the Russian Poisk mini-research module is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Moscow time (11:15 a.m. GMT) on December 3.
The Progress MS-25 resupply ship will deliver 2,528 kg of cargo to the orbital outpost, in particular, 515 kg of refueling propellant, 420 liters of potable water, 40 kg of compressed nitrogen in cylinders and about 1,553 kg of various equipment and materials in the cargo hold, among them medical and hygienic items and outfits.
The space freighter will also bring a trophy of the Games of the Future tournament to the orbital outpost. The trophy will return to Earth in 2024 and will be presented at the tournament. The space freighter will also deliver food for Russian cosmonauts, in particular, mandarins, which the Research Institute of Food Concentrate Industry and Special Food Technology earlier told TASS about.
The rocket is decorated with depictions devoted to the 35th anniversary of the flight by a Buran reusable space shuttle and the centenary of the birth of First Head of the USSR Defense Ministry’s Main Space Systems Department Alexander Maksimov, the decade of science and technology and the Games of the Future tournament.
The ISS crew psychological support service also told TASS earlier that the Progress MS-25 resupply ship would deliver New Year gifts to the space station prepared by the crewmembers’ relatives and friends. There are also dragon keychains inside gift bags.