Russia will launch a cargo craft toward the International Space Station tonight (Aug. 14), and you can watch the action live.
The robotic Progress 89 freighter is scheduled to launch atop a Soyuz rocket from the Russia-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan tonight at 11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT and 8:20 local Baikonur time on Aug. 15).
You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA. Coverage will begin at 11:00 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT on Aug. 15).
Progress 89 is packed with nearly three tons of food, scientific equipment and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
It’s slated to arrive at the orbiting lab on Saturday (Aug. 17), docking autonomously with the rear port of the Zvezda service module at 1:56 a.m. EDT (0556 GMT). You can watch that rendezvous here at Space.com when the time comes.
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That Zvezda port was occupied by the Progress 87 freighter until Monday night (Aug. 12), when it departed the ISS after a six-month stay and headed down to a fiery death in Earth’s atmosphere.
That’s the normal end-of-mission scenario for Progress vehicles, as well as for Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus freighters. The third currently operational robotic ISS resupply craft, SpaceX‘s Dragon capsule, is reusable, as it can come back to Earth safely for parachute-aided ocean splashdowns.
Progress 89 will join five other vehicles at the ISS when it arrives on Saturday morning.
Currently parked at the orbiting lab are two freighters, Progress 88 and Cygnus 21, and three crew-carrying craft: a Russian Soyuz, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour and Boeing’s Starliner, which is conducting its first-ever astronaut flight.
Starliner reached the ISS on June 6 for a planned weeklong stay, but it has remained in orbit as engineers troubleshoot issues with its reaction control system thrusters.
