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Progress-M

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Progress-M
Progress M-47, a 11F615A55 model, as seen from the ISS
ManufacturerRKK Energia
Country of originUSSR
Russia
OperatorRoskosmos
ApplicationsSpace station logistics
Specifications
RegimeLow Earth
Design life180 days
Production
StatusRetired
Built11F615A55: 67
11F615A60: 29
Launched11F615A55: 67
11F615A60: 30
Retired11F615A55: 67
11F615A60: 28
Failed11F615A60: 1
Lost11F615A60: 1
Maiden launch11F615A55: 1989 (M-1)
11F615A60: 2008 (M-01M)
Last launch11F615A55: 2021 (M-UM)
11F615A60: 2015 (M-29M)
Last retirement11F615A55: 2021 (M-UM)
11F615A60: 2016 (M-29M)
Related spacecraft
Derived fromProgress 7K-TG
Soyuz-TM
DerivativesProgress-M1
Progress MS
Configuration

Progress-M (Russian: Прогресс-М, GRAU indices 11F615A55 and 11F615A60), also known as Progress 7K-TGM, is a Russian (formerly Soviet) spacecraft used to resupply space stations. It is a variant of the Progress series, originally developed in the late 1980s as a modernized version of the Progress 7K-TG spacecraft. The Progress-M incorporated new systems derived from the Soyuz-T and Soyuz-TM spacecraft. The 11F615A60 variant introduced further upgrades, including the replacement of analog flight control systems with digital ones.

The first 43 Progress-M spacecraft were used to resupply Mir, with later missions supporting the International Space Station (ISS). A total of 87 Progress-M spacecraft were launched, 67 of the older 11F615A55 model and 30 of the newer 11F615A60 version. One spacecraft, Progress M-12M, was lost in a launch failure in August 2011. Another, M-27M, launched on 28 April 2015 but lost communication and control shortly after reaching orbit and re-entered Earth's atmosphere and burned up.[1]

The Progress M1 was a derivative of the Progress-M 11F615A55, optimized to carry more fuel at the expense of dry cargo and water. It entered service in 2000 and was retired in 2004. A modernized M1 incorporating upgrades from the 11F615A60 variant was scheduled to enter service in 2011, but the program was canceled before its first flight.

The final flight of a standard 11F615A55 was Progress M-67 in July 2009, while the final flight of the 11F615A60 was Progress M-29M in October 2015. It's replacement, the upgraded Progress MS spacecraft, flew for the first time in December 2015.

Several 11F615A55 spacecraft were specially modified into "space tugs" to deliver space station modules. Progress M-14 and M-38 were modified to deliver VDU attitude control systems to Mir in 1992 and 1998 respectively. Progress DC-1 delivered Pirs to the ISS in 2001, M-MIM2 delivered Poisk in 2009, and M-UM delivered Prichal in 2021.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Unmanned Russian spacecraft "plunging to Earth"". Yahoo News. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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