Progress MS-03 (), identified by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as Progress 64P, was a

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

spaceflight operated by

Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...

to resupply the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS). It was the first Progress MS to have an external compartment for releasing satellites.

History

was the first cargo spacecraft to fly in space (1978), and also the first to bring freight back to Earth, thanks to a Raduga capsule. It was developed to supply the Salyut 6 space station and which was subsequently supply the crews of

Salyut 7 Salyut 7 (), also known as DOS-6 (Durable Orbital Station 6) was a space station in low Earth orbit from April 1982 to February 1991. It was first crewed in May 1982 with two crew via Soyuz T-5, and last visited in June 1986, by Soyuz T-15. Va ...

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

and from the

. It enabled space station crews to stay in space by bringing consumables (food, water, fuel, oxygen) and spare parts. The Progress-MS is a uncrewed freighter based on the Progress-M featuring improved avionics. This improved variant first launched on 21 December 2015. It has the following improvements: * New external compartment that enables it to deploy satellites. Each compartment can hold up to four launch containers. This Progress MS-03 flight features first usage. * Enhanced redundancy thanks to the addition of a backup system of electrical motors for the docking and sealing mechanism. * Improved

Micrometeoroid A micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid: a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeorite is such a particle that survives passage through Earth's atmosphere and reaches Earth's surface. The term "micrometeoro ...

(MMOD) protection with additional panels in the cargo compartment. * Luch

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n relay satellites link capabilities enable telemetry and control even when not in direct view of ground radio stations. * GNSS autonomous navigation enables real time determination of the status vector and orbital parameters dispensing with the need of ground station orbit determination. * Real time relative navigation thanks to direct radio data exchange capabilities with the space station. * New digital radio that enables enhanced TV camera view for the docking operations. * The Ukrainian Chezara Kvant-V on board radio system and antenna/feeder system has been replaced with a Unified Command Telemetry System (UCTS). * Replacement of the Kurs A with Kurs NA digital system.

Pre-launch

The launch of Progress MS-03 was originally scheduled for on 30 April 2016, but was postponed as a result of an overall reshuffle of the flight manifest for the International Space Station. At the beginning of June 2016, the mission was rescheduled from 4 July to 17 July 2016.

Launch

Progress MS-03 was launched on 16 July 2016 at 21:41:45 (UTC) on a

Soyuz-U Soyuz-U ( GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The ''U'' designation stands for ''unified' ...

from the

Baikonur Baikonur ( ; ) is a city in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave until 2050. It was constructed to serve the Baikonur Cosmodrome with adminis ...

Site 31/6 in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

. At the time of launch, the International Space Station was flying at 420 km over Eastern Chad.

Docking

The Progress MS-03 mission used the two-day, 34-orbit trip to the station instead of the currently available six-hour rendezvous profile. Progress MS-03 docked with the nadir docking port of the Pirs module on 19 July 2016 at 00:20 UTC. Progress MS-03 docked to Pirs

Cargo

The Progress MS-03 spacecraft delivered 2,425 kg of cargo and supplies to the International Space Station for the six members of the Expedition 48 crew. The following is a breakdown of cargo bound for the ISS: * Fuel: 705 kg * Oxygen and Air: 50 kg * Water: 420 kg * Supplies for NASA: 22 kg * Spare parts: 1,230 kg

Undocking and decay

The Progress MS-03 cargo ship undocked from the Pirs, on 31 January 2017, at 14:25 UTC, Roskosmos announced. The three-minute braking maneuver was scheduled to begin at 17:34 UTC, followed by reentry into the dense atmosphere at 18:10 UTC. Surviving debris of the spacecraft were calculated to impact the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

at 18:24 UTC on the same day.

References

{{Orbital launches in 2016 Progress (spacecraft) missions Spacecraft launched in 2016 2016 in Russia Spacecraft launched by Soyuz-U rockets Supply vehicles for the International Space Station Spacecraft which reentered in 2017