Progress (spacecraft) - Current Status

Current Status

Progress spacecraft are currently used to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). Between 1 February 2003 and 26 July 2005, they were the only spacecraft available to transport large quantities of supplies to the station, as the Space Shuttle fleet was grounded after the breakup of Columbia at the end of STS-107. For ISS missions, the Progress M1 variant is used, which moves the water tanks from the propellant and refueling module to the pressurized section, and as a result is able to carry more propellant. Progress M-67, the final flight of a Progress-M spacecraft, was launched 24 July 2009 on a Soyuz-U.

The European Space Agency (ESA) operates its own type of supply freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The first of these, named Jules Verne, was launched at 04:03 GMT on 9 March 2008. ATVs can carry up to 8 tonnes of cargo into space, roughly three times as much as the Progress, and will be launched every 12–18 months by Ariane 5 rockets.

NASA's Orion spacecraft, which was to replace the Space Shuttle after 2015, was initially designed to have an unmanned variant similar to Progress, however this capability has since been removed. It is expected that commercial (for-profit) resupply by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences will handle most of the American logistics after the end of the Space Shuttle program.

RKK Energia has proposed the Parom (ferry) spacecraft as a replacement for Progress. This new spacecraft would retrieve either the proposed Kliper spacecraft or any cargo container with a Russian airlock and weighing up to 15 short tons (14 t) back to the ISS.

On 31 October 2012, Progress M-17M was successfully launched, reached orbit and docked with the ISS for resupply. It is due to undock on the 27 April 2013.