NASA to Cover Progress 96 Spacecraft Launch, Docking

NASA will offer live coverage of the launch and docking of the unpiloted Roscosmos Progress 96 cargo spacecraft, which is carrying about three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the ISS crew. Launch is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. EDT (9:15 p.m. Baikonur time) on Wednesday, Sept. 9, aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan; NASA's launch coverage begins at 12 p.m. EDT.

After a two-day trip, Progress 96 will dock autonomously to the space-facing port of the station's Poisk module at 2:37 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 11, with NASA's arrival coverage starting at 1:45 p.m. EDT. The events will stream live on NASA's platforms, with viewing info at https://www.nasa.gov/live. The spacecraft will stay docked for about five months before undocking and performing a destructive re-entry over the Pacific Ocean.

Before Progress 96 arrives, the Progress 94 spacecraft will undock at approximately 11:18 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 7 for its planned destructive re-entry; NASA will not stream that undocking. NASA notes that for over 25 years people have lived continuously aboard the ISS, advancing research and enabling commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit, along with groundwork for Artemis lunar missions and future Mars exploration.