Specialists did not find any damage on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which will go to the International Space Station (ISS) in unmanned mode, they told reporters at Roscosmos on February 18 at a meeting at RSC Energia.
“They (specialists from Roscosmos enterprises. – Ed.) also examined in detail the radiator on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which was located in the assembly and test building of the 254th site of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and did not reveal any damage on it,” the Russian corporation said. .
The State Commission was recommended to schedule the launch of Soyuz MS-23 on February 24.
“The Council of Chief Designers recommended that the state commission appoint the launch of the ship <...> from Baikonur on February 24 at 03:34 Moscow time, ”they stressed.
On February 13, the head of the Roscosmos state corporation, Yuri Borisov, said that emergency situations with the Soyuz MS-22 and the Progress MS-21 spacecraft led to breakdowns in the thermal control systems of both ships, but this does not mean that the causes of the incidents are the same.
The Soyuz MS-23 will deliver to Earth the crew of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, which suffered damage to the external thermal control system and was depressurized. It was decided to return the ship with a faulty cooling system without a crew for safety reasons.
On January 11, Roskosmos reported that the Soyuz MS-22 would undock and land one to two weeks after the Soyuz MS-23 arrived at the ISS. The landing of the ship is planned on the territory of Kazakhstan.
The damage to the radiator of the cooling system on the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft became known on December 15, 2022. A leak has been reported from the cooling unit. The astronauts’ work on spacewalks was suspended.