Soyuz MS-27

Soyuz MS-27 is a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 8 April 2025 from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, bound for the International Space Station. The spacecraft was launched aboard a Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying three crew members, Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky, along with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim.

Mission

The Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft, assembled by Energia, was transported by rail from its manufacturing facility in Korolev, Russia, to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, arriving in December 2024. Final testing and processing commenced in mid-January 2025.⁠[5]

Meanwhile, the components for the Soyuz-2.1a rocket were manufactured by RKTs Progress in Samara, Russia, and shipped by rail to Baikonur, where assembly was underway by the end of January.[5]

Final spacecraft preparations resumed in early March. On 24 March, both the primary and backup crews conducted a fit check of their Sokol launch and entry suits and participated in familiarization training inside the flight-ready spacecraft. Propellant loading was completed on 25 March, followed shortly by cargo loading. On 27 March, Soyuz MS-27 was mated to its launch vehicle adapter.⁠[5]

Additional crew training took place on 2 April, as members of Expedition 73 completed their final onboard exercises inside the fully assembled Soyuz MS-27. The following day, the payload section—including the spacecraft—was transported from the processing facility to the vehicle assembly building at Site 31/6, where it was integrated with the Soyuz-2.1a rocket. Integration was completed on 4 April. On the morning of 5 April, the fully assembled launch vehicle was rolled out to the launch pad at Site 31/6.[2] The rocket was decorated with decals to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.[6]

Three days later, on 8 April at 05:47:15 UTC, Soyuz MS-27 lifted off atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as scheduled. After an 8-minute 49-second ascent, the third stage engine cutoff occurred, and the Soyuz MS-27 was released into its initial orbit three seconds later. The spacecraft proceeded with a fast-track rendezvous and successfully docked to the nadir port of the Prichal module at 08:57:43 UTC, just 3 hours, 10 minutes and 28 seconds after launch. The crew entered the station at 09:28 UTC.[2]

Crew

Prime crew
Position[1] Crew
Commander Russia Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos
Expedition 72/73
Third spaceflight
Flight Engineer Russia Alexey Zubritsky, Roscosmos
Expedition 72/73
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer United States Jonny Kim, NASA
Expedition 72/73
First spaceflight
Backup crew
Position[7] Crew
Commander Russia Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer Russia Sergey Mikayev, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer United States Christopher Williams, NASA

References

  1. ^ a b Doyle, Tiernan P. (28 August 2024). "NASA Assigns Astronaut Jonny Kim to First Space Station Mission". NASA. Archived from the original on 30 August 2024. Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Zak, Anatoly (8 April 2025). "Soyuz MS-27 arrives at ISS". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Soyuz MS-27". spacefacts.de. 15 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
  4. ^ "Upcoming ISS Expeditions". spacefacts.de. 19 December 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Zak, Anatoly (12 March 2025). "Space exploration in 2025". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 13 March 2025.
  6. ^ "Soyuz spacecraft with US-Russian crew lands on ISS". France 24. 8 April 2025. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Экипажи на подготовке" [Crews in training]. Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (in Russian). Retrieved 31 August 2024.