Unmanned spaceflights to the International Space Station
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Uncrewed spaceflights to the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
(ISS) are made primarily to deliver cargo, however several Russian modules have also docked to the outpost following uncrewed launches. Resupply missions typically use the Russian Progress spacecraft, European Automated Transfer Vehicles, Japanese Kounotori vehicles, and the American
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
and Cygnus spacecraft. The primary docking system for Progress spacecraft is the automated Kurs system, with the manual TORU system as a backup. ATVs also use Kurs, however they are not equipped with TORU. Progress and ATV can remain docked for up to six months. The other spacecraft — the Japanese HTV, the
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
Dragon (under CRS phase 1) and the Northrop Grumman Cygnus — rendezvous with the station before being grappled using
Canadarm2 The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...
and berthed at the nadir port of the
Harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...
or
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module for one to two months. Under CRS phase 2, Cargo Dragon will dock autonomously at IDA-2 or 3 as the case may be. As of December 2022, Progress spacecraft have flown most of the uncrewed missions to the ISS.


Spaceports


Baikonur Cosmodrome

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...
in Kazakhstan is the oldest and busiest spaceport. The first module of the ISS was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81 as the uncrewed spacecraft
Zarya Zarya may refer to: *Zorya, personification of dawn in Slavic mythology * Zarya (antenna), a type of medium-wave broadcasting antenna used in former Soviet Union *Zarya (ISS module) is a module of the International Space Station. * ''Zarya'' (magazi ...
in 1998 and flew uncrewed for about two years before the first crew arrived. The Progress spacecraft is the most frequent cargo ship sent from Baikonur to the station, bringing supplies such as food, fuel, gas, experiments, and parts. Its light payload is offset by its ability to deliver critical replacement parts at short notice. Fresh fruit and vegetables from the earth are an important part of the crew's diet.


Tanegashima Space Center

Located in Japan on an island south of Kyūshū, the Tanegashima Space Center (TCS) is the launch site for H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), called , used to resupply the ''Kibō'' Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) and the ISS. The name ''Kounotori'' was chosen for the HTV by JAXA because "a white stork carries an image of conveying an important thing (a baby, happiness, and other joyful things), therefore, it precisely expresses the HTV's mission to transport essential materials to the ISS". White Kounotori can carry of cargo in total, about of which is accessible by the crew in the pressurized section, the remainder is unpressurised cargo on Exposed Pallet to be handled by the ISS's robotic arm.


Centre Spatial Guyanais

The European Space Agency (ESA) uses the Guiana Space Centre or, more commonly, Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG). It is a French spaceport near Kourou in French Guiana. Operational since 1968, it is particularly suitable as a location for a spaceport due to its proximity to the equator, and that launches are in a favorable direction over water. The near-equatorial launch location provides an advantage for launches to low-inclination (or geostationary) Earth orbits compared to launches from spaceports at higher latitude, the eastward boost provided by the Earth's rotation is about (1,035 miles per hour) at this spaceport. The ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle weighs at launch and has a cargo capacity of ( of dry cargo, up to of water, nitrogen, oxygen, air), with up to two gases per flight, and up to of propellant for the re-boost and refueling the station.


Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the station ...
, located in
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, United States, has been operational since 1950; with its first orbital launch occurring in 1958. All of NASA's crewed
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and
Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...
missions were launched from the Cape, along with some of the earlier
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
missions. Cape Canaveral is adjacent to the
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
, where the majority of Apollo missions and all the
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...
missions were launched from. Under contract with NASA,
SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...
launches the Dragon 2 Cargo variant spacecraft to resupply the American portion of the ISS. The Dragon can transport of pressurized and unpressurized cargo and can return to Earth. It is the only uncrewed resupply vehicle capable of returning a payload.


Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, located at Wallops Island, Virginia, United States, is the launch site for the
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
Cygnus spacecraft for resupplying the American portion of the ISS.


Current and completed spaceflights

This is a list of uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station. ''Assembly flights are indicated in bold text''. ''Note'': Russia has delivered cargo via the uncrewed missions of Progress since the launch of the ISS, while the U.S. had used Space Shuttles for hybrid human/cargo missions, resulting in a greater number of Russian uncrewed flights to the ISS. Since the discontinuation of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the numbers of crewed and uncrewed flights by the U.S. and Russia are more closely matched. For vehicles that are berthed to the station using the
Space Station Remote Manipulator System The Mobile Servicing System (MSS), is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, supp ...
(SSRMS) the times of berthing and unberthing are given. For those vehicles whose berthing and unberthing time is not sure is not provided, SSRMS capture and release is taken. This is because these vehicles remain physically attached to the station longer than indicated when counting the time between initial SSRMS capture and release. Formerly, the Japanese HTV and the SpaceX
Dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
and currently, the Orbital Sciences Cygnus are the visiting vehicles to attach in this manner. For all other vehicles the times of docking and undocking are given.


Future spaceflights

Scheduled future flights are shown below:


See also

* List of spaceflights to the International Space Station *
List of human spaceflights to the International Space Station A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of International Space Station spacewalks *
List of International Space Station visitors This is a list of all of the visitors to the International Space Station (ISS), including long-term crew, short-term visitors, and space tourists, in alphabetical order. ISS crew names are in bold. The suffix ''(twice, three times, ...)'' refers ...
*
List of Progress flights A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby uni ...
*
Comparison of space station cargo vehicles Comparison or comparing is the act of evaluating two or more things by determining the relevant, comparable characteristics of each thing, and then determining which characteristics of each are similar to the other, which are different, and t ...
*
Cargo spacecraft Cargo spacecraft are robotic spacecraft that are designed to carry cargo, possibly to support space stations' operation by transporting food, propellant and other supplies. This is different from a space probes, space probe, whose missions are to ...


External links


NASA ISS Consolidated Launch Manifest



SpaceX Launch Manifest

Orbital Cygnus Launch Manifest

Russian Launch Manifest


References

{{Automated Transfer Vehicles * International Space Station uncrewed spaceflights Flights to the International Space Station * ISS 2000s in spaceflight 2010s in spaceflight