Baikonur tour – Progress MS-09

Together with a group of space enthusiasts once again we visited Baikonur launchsite. This time we went there to observe the launch of Progress MS-09 cargo vehicle that took place at 03.51, local time (00.51, Moscow time) on July 10.

Traditionally unmanned launches are not that popular as manned ones but nevertheless we had an international team uniting Russia, Austria, Israel, Italy and Germany.

Our program was very busy: we have visited all available pads and facilities of Baikonur launchsite as well as all museums and historical sights, walked along legendary Cosmonauts Alley at pad #17 where cosmonauts traditionally live before the launch, went to the International space school and even launched a couple of rockets (not real, just models but still).

But naturally the launch itself was a climax of our tour since it was indeed an unforgettable spectacle. What is also important we witnessed a truly historical launch since it was the first time when 2-orbit docking scheme was successfully put into practice and in about 3 hours the spacecraft docked with the ISS delivering to the cosmonauts everything necessary for life and work aboard.

Find our traditional photo report below and note that group admissions for next launch tours is already on:

Soyuz MS-10 (manned) – October 11
Progress MS-10 (cargo) – October 31