Soyuz MS-25 with Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya on board successfully launched from Baikonur

On March 23rd, at 15:36 Moscow time, a successful launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-25 transport manned spacecraft took place from the 31st site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. On board is a crew consisting of Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, space flight participant from Belarus Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson. They will reach the ISS using a two-day rendezvous scheme. The manned spacecraft is scheduled to dock on March 25th at 18:10 Moscow time. Oleg Novitsky, Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Loral O'Hara are scheduled to return on the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft on April 6th.

The launch of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-25 manned transport spacecraft was scheduled for March 21st at 16:21 Moscow time. However, it was rescheduled. According to Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov, at the final stage of pre-launch preparation, an abnormal situation occurred, which served as the basis for cancelling the launch – the reason is a voltage drop in the chemical current source. On March 22nd, Yuri Borisov, during a telephone conversation with President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko, assured that all shortcomings had been eliminated in accordance with the regulations provided for such situations. On the same day, the State Commission decided to launch the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft on March 23rd.

On March 23rd, at 15:46 Moscow time, the spacecraft was successfully launched into orbit.