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Russian space craft antenna problem forces manual docking with ISS

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with a Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on March 22, 2026 — Roscosmos/Handout via Reuters
A Soyuz-2.1a rocket booster with a Progress MS-33 cargo spacecraft blasts off to the International Space Station (ISS) from the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on March 22, 2026 — Roscosmos/Handout via Reuters

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An unmanned Russian cargo spacecraft has a problem with an antenna so ​it will have to be manually docked ‌when it reaches the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's Roscosmos state space corporation said in a statement.

A ​Soyuz-2.1a rocket launched the Progress MS-33 ​cargo spacecraft on Sunday from Baikonur in ⁠Kazakhstan but a problem with one of ​the KURS automated rendezvous antennas was identified, ​Roscosmos said.

Russian cosmonaut Sergei Kud-Sverchkov, the current ISS commander, will manually dock the cargo ship on Tuesday at ​about 13:35 GMT, Roscosmos said.

"A manual ​approach of ships to the ISS is regularly practiced ‌by ⁠cosmonauts in training," said Oleg Kononenko, head of Russia's Cosmonaut Training Center.

NASA said all other systems are operating as normal and that Roscosmos ​will continue ​troubleshooting the ⁠antenna.

The cargo ship is carrying about 2.5 tonnes of food, water, ​fuel, oxygen and supplies for the ​crew ⁠aboard the ISS.

There are currently seven crew aboard the ISS including Russians Kud-Sverchkov, Sergei Mikayev ⁠and ​Andrei Fedyaev, US astronauts Christopher ​Williams, Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, and France's Sophie ​Adenot.

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