Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft with cosmonaut from Belarus enters target orbit

The Soyuz MS-25 manned transport spacecraft with the first Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya has successfully entered the target orbit, BELTA writes.

"The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft has entered the near-Earth orbit," announced a commentator of the mission control. Roscosmos specialists present at the launch at the center, as well as relatives and friends of the cosmonauts met the announcement with applause.

On board is the crew consisting of the ship commander - cosmonaut of Roscosmos Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian cosmonaut Marina Vasilevskaya and NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson.

The time from the launch to the end of acceleration was about 9 minutes. The spacecraft was put into orbit using the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle. The first stage of the rocket separated after 2 min. of flight. Afterwards, the head fairing flaps were jettisoned. After almost 5 minutes after liftoff, the second stage of the launch vehicle separated. At the 9th minute the manned spacecraft separated. After that, the solar panels and antennas were uncovered. All post-launch elements of the flight were carried out in normal mode.

Before entering the target orbit, control of the Soyuz MS-25 was transferred from the Baikonur Cosmodrome to the Mission Control Center.

The next most important part of the flight is docking with the International Space Station. Due to the March 21 launch abort and its postponement to March 23, the crew will have to wait for docking for a little more than two days.