ISS orbit raised 2 km to prepare for next crew's arrival

MOSCOW. Jan 29 (Interfax) - The International Space Station (ISS)'s orbit has been raised by two kilometers to prepare for the arrival of the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft in March, Russia's Roscosmos said on Saturday.

"The engines of the Progress MS-24 resupply ship, which is docked to the Zvezda service module of the ISS's Russian segment, were activated at 2:39 p.m. Moscow time, and according to preliminary information from the Mission Control Center of the Central Research Institute for Machine Building (part of Roscosmos), operated for 788.2 seconds and gave an impetus of 1.17 meters per second," Roscosmos said.

As a result, the average orbital altitude rose by 2 kilometers to 418.64 km.

Soyuz MS-25 is due to be launched to the ISS on March 21, 2024. Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson will operate the spacecraft.

The next Russian mission to the ISS is scheduled for February 15, when the Progress MS-26 resupply ship will be launched.

Expedition 70 comprising Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko, Nikolai Chub and Konstantin Borisov, NASA astronauts Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O'Hara, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa is currently operating the ISS.