Progress MS-15 cargo spacecraft competes its 201-day-long mission. In accordance with the Russian flight program of the International Space Station, in the morning of February 9, 2021, at 05:21:30 UTC, the Progress MS-15 cargo vehicle nominally undocked from the Pirs module of the International Space Station.
The hatches between the Russian freighter and the ISS were closed on February 8, 2021 at 10:40 UTC. On February 9 at 05:20 UTC, after preparations for undocking were completed, a command was issued to open the Progress MS-15 spacecraft hooks; it was undocked from the station and sent away. After the spacecraft was withdrawn to a safe distance from the station, the specialists of the TsNIIMash Mission Control Center (MCC, part of Roscosmos) began the controlled deorbit of the spacecraft.
According to the MCC calculations, the Progress MS-15 engines will be switched on at 08:30:11 UTC for braking. At 09:13:08 UTC, non-combustible structure elements will drop in the calculated area of the non-navigable region of the Pacific Ocean. The estimated fragments drop area is approximately 1,680 km east of Wellington (New Zealand). Roscosmos has completed all the necessary procedures to flag this area as temporarily dangerous for sea navigation and aircraft flights.
The Progress MS-15 cargo vehicle has been part of the Russian segment of the International Space Station since July 23, 2020. Its launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome took place on July 23 at 14:26:21 UTC, and it docked to the Pirs docking compartment 3 hours 18 minutes 31 seconds after the liftoff. Thus, the Progress MS-15 set a new record flight time to the ISS. The freighter delivered over 2.5 tons of cargo, necessary to maintain crewed flight and implement the program of scientific and applied research onboard the station.