Progress M-UM

The Progress-MS is a uncrewed freighter based on the Progress-M featuring improved avionics. This improved variant first launched on 21 December 2015. It has the following improvements:[6][7][8]

• New external compartment that enables it to deploy satellites. Each compartment can hold up to four launch containers. First time installed on Progress MS-03.
• Enhanced redundancy thanks to the addition of a backup system of electrical motors for the docking and sealing mechanism.
• Improved Micrometeoroid (MMOD) protection with additional panels in the cargo compartment.
• Luch Russian relay satellites link capabilities enable telemetry and control even when not in direct view of ground radio stations.
• GNSS autonomous navigation enables real time determination of the status vector and orbital parameters dispensing with the need of ground station orbit determination.
• Real time relative navigation thanks to direct radio data exchange capabilities with the space station.
• New digital radio that enables enhanced TV camera view for the docking operations.
• The Ukrainian Chezara Kvant-V on board radio system and antenna/feeder system has been replaced with a Unified Command Telemetry System (UCTS).
• Replacement of the Kurs A with Kurs NA digital system.

A Soyuz-2.1b will launch Progress M-UM to the International Space Station from Baikonur Site 31/6 on November 24, 2021 for delivery of the Prichal module.[1][2][4] Two days after launch, Progress M-UM will automatically dock Prichal to the nadir port of the Nauka module and remain in orbit for 30 days.

Computer generated image of the Russian Orbital Segment (ORS) after Nauka docking.

The ISS flight manifest drafted by Roscosmos at the end of summer 2020, set the launch of UM Prichal module for September 6, 2021, with the docking to Nauka's nadir port two days later.[2] However, by December 1, 2020 the launch of UM Prichal slipped to three and four months after the Nauka. Current planned launch date is November 24, 2021.[1]

One port on Prichal is equipped with an active hybrid docking port, which enables docking with the Nauka/MLM module. The remaining five ports are passive hybrids, enabling docking of Soyuz and Progress vehicles, as well as heavier modules and future spacecraft with modified docking systems.[1]

A spacewalk is planned after the arrival Prichal at the station, with a second spacewalk planned for early fourth quarter of 2021. Six additional spacewalks will follow thru 2022 to complete the integration of the Nauka and Prichal modules into the Russian Orbital Segment.[1]

The Prichal module will become the second addition to the Russian Orbital Segment in 2021. Earlier modules were delivered and added to the Russian Orbital Segment in a similar manner. The Poisk module was delivered to ISS in 2009 by a modified Progress-M 11F615A55 spacecraft, with the pressurised cargo module removed to accommodate Poisk. The Pirs module was delivered in 2001 by a modified Progress M-SO1 spacecraft.

The Progress M-UM propulsion section is planned to remain docked at the station for 30 days. The Propulsion section will then undock, revealing Prichal's nadir docking port for future Russian spacecraft. The Propulsion section will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere for destruction over the South Pacific Ocean.[5]

• Uncrewed spaceflights to the International Space Station
• Prichal (ISS module)
• Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex - proposed complex (scrapped in September 2017)
• Universal Docking Module - former name Uzlovoy Module (eventually Prichal)