Soyuz MS-23

Soyuz MS-23 is a planned Russian uncrewed Soyuz spaceflight to launch from Baikonur in March 2023 to the International Space Station, in order to replace the Soyuz MS spacecraft for landing that the three Soyuz MS-22 crew members launched onboard, with a new spacecraft.[1][2]

Soyuz MS-23
NamesISS 69S
Mission typeUncrewed spacecraft replacement mission to ISS
OperatorRoscosmos
Websitehttp://en.roscosmos.ru/
Mission duration188 days (planned)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSoyuz MS
ManufacturerRSC Energia
Crew
Crew size0 up
3 down
Landing
Start of mission
Launch dateMarch 2023 (planned)[1]
RocketSoyuz-2.1a
Launch siteBaikonur Cosmodrome, Site 31
ContractorProgress Rocket Space Centre
End of mission
Landing date2023 (planned)
Landing siteKazakh Steppe, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portPrichal nadir
 

Background

Due to the 0.8 mm (0.031 in)-diameter hole punctured in the radiator of Soyuz MS-22 due to micro-meteorite impact,[3] there are doubts over the safety of Soyuz MS-22. It will return uncrewed like Soyuz 32 and MS-23 will be launched unmanned like Soyuz 34 as a replacement.[4][5] As it will launch uncrewed, it will carry some supplies, acting like a Progress MS spacecraft.

Until the replacement MS-23 docks to ISS, SpaceX Crew-5 is considered among the options to return the MS-22 crew, in case of emergency. This is due to the fact that SpaceX originally designed the Crew Dragon to host a crew of seven at a time. Due to these reasons, the International Space Station mission management team decided to move NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio’s Soyuz seat liner from the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft to Dragon Endurance, in order to provide lifeboat capabilities in the event Rubio would need to return to Earth because of an emergency evacuation from the space station. The seat liner was moved on 17 January 2023, with installation and configuration continuing through most of the day, 18 January 2023.[6] The change allowed for increased crew protection by reducing the heat load inside the MS-22 spacecraft for cosmonauts Prokopyev and Petelin in the event of an emergency return to Earth. Alongside SpaceX Crew-6 space capsule is designed to bring back crew serving as a emergency evacuation after Crew-5.[7]

Once the MS-23 arrives at the space station, Rubio’s seat liner will be transferred to the new Soyuz and the seat liners for Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin will be moved from MS-22 to MS-23 ahead of their return in the Soyuz.[6]

Crew

Original scenario

The original three-Russian member crew for this scenario was named in May 2021. American astronaut Loral O'Hara replaced Andrey Fedyaev as a part of the Soyuz-Dragon crew swap system of keeping at least one NASA astronaut and one Roscosmos cosmonaut on each of the crew rotation missions. This ensures both countries have a presence on the station, and the ability to maintain their separate systems if either Soyuz or commercial crew vehicles are grounded for an extended period.[8]

Primary Crew

Position Launching Crew member Landing Crew member
Commander Oleg Kononenko, Roscosmos
Expedition 68/69
Fifth spaceflight
Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub, Roscosmos
Expedition 68/69/70
First spaceflight		 Loral O'Hara, NASA
Expedition 68/69
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer / Spaceflight Participant Loral O'Hara, NASA
Expedition 68/69
First spaceflight		 Olga Mastitskaya, Victoria Fidrus, Anastasia Lenkova, Olga Gerasimova, Daria Mikhnyuk or Marina Vasilevskaya[9]
First spaceflight

Backup crew

Position Crew member
Commander Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 1 Oleg Platonov, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer 2 Tracy Caldwell-Dyson[10], NASA

New scenario

As Soyuz MS-22 is unable to perform crew return, it will reenter uncrewed like Soyuz 32 and MS-23 will be launched empty like Soyuz 34 to return the MS-22 crew.[11] The original crewed mission will be delayed and reassigned to the MS-24 mission.

Crew

Position Launching Crew member Landing Crew member
Commander None Sergey Prokopyev, Roscosmos
Expedition 67/68
Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer None Dmitry Petelin, Roscosmos
Expedition 67/68
First spaceflight
Flight Engineer None Francisco Rubio, NASA
Expedition 67/68
First spaceflight

References
  1. "Crewless Soyuz MS-23 launch delayed until early March — Roscosmos chief". TASS. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  2. "Space exploration in 2023". russianspaceweb.com. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  3. "Госкорпорация "Роскосмос"".
  4. Pavlushchenko, Katya [@katlinegrey] (19 December 2022). "A big update on the incident with #SoyuzMS22 appeared on the Roscosmos website: t.co/cJGMOhh9Xr. Quick summary in the thread below. ⤵️ t.co/Gj1SCTG49j" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. https://www.roscosmos.ru/38641/
  6. Garcia, Mark. "Spacewalk Preps Continue as Soyuz Seat Move Planned as Precaution". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved 14 January 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. Expedition 68 NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Leaders Discuss Mission - Jan. 25, 2023, retrieved 14 February 2023
  8. "Rogozin says Crew Dragon safe for Russian cosmonauts". SpaceNews. 26 October 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  9. "Belarusian cosmonaut candidates named". eng.belta.by. 24 December 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  10. Imgur. "imgur.com". Imgur. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  11. "Russia to launch new capsule to return space station crew". WJXT. Associated Press. 11 January 2023. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
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