Soyuz MS-26

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.^[4][5][6] The mission transported three crew members, Roscosmos cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, along with NASA astronaut Donald Pettit.

Soyuz MS-26

Soyuz MS-26 approaches the International Space Station
Names	ISS 72S
Mission type	ISS crew transport
Operator	Roscosmos
COSPAR ID	2024-162A
SATCAT no.	61043
Mission duration	220 days, 8 hours and 57 minutes
Distance travelled	150,200,000 km (93,300,000 mi)[1]
Orbits completed	3,520[1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Soyuz MS-26 No. 757
Spacecraft type	Soyuz MS
Manufacturer	Energia
Launch mass	7,152 kg (15,767 lb)[2]
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Aleksey Ovchinin Ivan Vagner Donald Pettit
Callsign	Burlak
Expedition	Expedition 71/72
Start of mission
Launch date	11 September 2024, 16:23:12 (2024-09-11UTC16:23:12Z) UTC (21:23:12 AQTT)
Rocket	Soyuz-2.1a No. M15000-070[2]
Launch site	Baikonur, Site 31/6
Contractor	RKTs Progress
End of mission
Landing date	20 April 2025 01:20:35 UTC
Landing site	Kazakh Steppe, 147 km (91 mi) southeast of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan (47°19′N 69°33′E)[2]
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric orbit
Regime	Low Earth orbit
Inclination	51.66°
Docking with ISS
Docking port	Rassvet nadir
Docking date	11 September 2024, 19:32:09 UTC
Undocking date	19 April 2025, 21:57:33 UTC
Time docked	220 days, 2 hours and 25 minutes
Mission patch, which depicts the three crew members as Burlak (the mission's callsign) pulling the Soyuz[3] From left: Vagner, Ovchinin and Pettit Soyuz programme (crewed) ← Soyuz MS-25 Soyuz MS-27 →

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.^[7]

Crew

Prime crew

Position[8]	Crew
Commander	Aleksey Ovchinin, Roscosmos Expedition 71/72 Third[a] spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Ivan Vagner, Roscosmos Expedition 71/72 Second spaceflight
Flight Engineer	Donald Pettit, NASA Expedition 71/72 Fourth spaceflight

Backup crew

Position	Crew
Commander	Sergey Ryzhikov, Roscosmos
Pilot	Alexey Zubritsky, Roscosmos
Flight Engineer	Jonny Kim, NASA

Gallery

• 
  Soyuz MS-26 atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket shortly after it was erected
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 launches atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 docked to the Rassvet module
• 
  Ovchinin at the controls of Soyuz MS-26 in space during pre-departure fit checks
• 
  Soyuz MS-26 descends back to the Kazakh Steppe under a parachute
• 
  From left: Pettit, Ovchinin, Vagner inside Soyuz MS-26 after landing

Notes

1. Not counting the aborted flight of Soyuz MS-10.