Soyuz MS-26

Soyuz MS-26
Soyuz MS-26 approaches the International Space Station
NamesISS 72S
Mission typeISS crew transport
OperatorRoscosmos
COSPAR ID2024-162A
SATCAT no.61043
Mission duration220 days, 8 hours and 57 minutes
Distance travelled150,200,000 km (93,300,000 mi)
Orbits completed3,520
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz MS-26 No. 757
Spacecraft typeSoyuz MS
ManufacturerEnergia
Launch mass7,152 kg (15,767 lb)
Crew
Crew size3
Members
CallsignBurlak
ExpeditionExpedition 71/72
Start of mission
Launch date11 September 2024, 16:23:12 (2024-09-11UTC16:23:12Z) UTC (21:23:12 AQTT)
RocketSoyuz-2.1a No. M15000-070
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 31/6
ContractorRKTs Progress
End of mission
Landing date20 April 2025 01:20:35 UTC
Landing siteKazakh Steppe, 147 km (91 mi) southeast of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (47°19′N 69°33′E / 47.317°N 69.550°E / 47.317; 69.550)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Inclination51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking portRassvet nadir
Docking date11 September 2024, 19:32:09 UTC
Undocking date19 April 2025, 21:57:33 UTC
Time docked220 days, 2 hours and 25 minutes

Mission patch, which depicts the three crew members as Burlak (the mission's callsign) pulling the Soyuz

From left: Vagner, Ovchinin and Pettit

Soyuz MS-26, Russian production No. 757 and identified by NASA as Soyuz 72S, was a Russian crewed Soyuz spaceflight launched from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 11 September 2024 to the International Space Station. The mission transported three crew members, Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.

When the spacecraft crossed the Karman line shortly after launch, there was a record 19 people in outer space: the three astronauts on the MS-26 mission, three more on China's Tiangong space station, four people on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, and nine more on board the International Space Station.