So it’s time to head to the ISS and you need a ride? Looks like Russia’s Soyuz MS-26 is the taxi of sorts to transport three astronauts, all with previous experience, that include two Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, and American astronaut Donald Pettit.
The launch will cost $80 million and is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, September 11 at 9:23 AM PDT from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan. Soyuz MS-26 will carry two cosmonauts and one astronaut to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The Soyuz 2.1A converted the flight control system from analog to digital, which allowed launch from fixed platforms. It also allowed big fairings and payloads. It is currently used for crewed Soyuz and Progress flights to the ISS.
Russian Federal Space Agency: 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.
