Progress 96
Progress 96 was an uncrewed Russian cargo ship that launched on a Soyuz 2.1b from Baikonur on 16 September 2026 with 2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the International Space Station. It docked to the Poisk module on 19 September, two minutes ahead of schedule, after a three-day, 49-orbit rendezvous.
What happened
All times local
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Watch this moment · 20:00
16 September 2026, 9:33:54 a.m. EDT
Liftoff from Baikonur
A Soyuz 2.1b lifted off from pad 6, site 31, at 6:33 p.m. local time. The time was chosen so that the pad's rotation carried it into the plane of the station's orbit, which is inclined 51.6 degrees.
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Watch this moment · 22:13
Cross of Korolev
The strap-on boosters separated from the first stage in a pattern known as the cross of Korolev. Second stage shutdown followed at 4 minutes 36 seconds, when the booster was 104 miles up and travelling over 8,700 miles an hour.
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Watch this moment · 29:29
Preliminary orbit
The third stage cut off and Progress separated. Solar arrays and navigation antennas deployed, and Russian flight controllers outside Moscow took over. Houston called the climb flawless.
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Watch this moment · 8:14
A 49-orbit rendezvous
Progress 96 began a three-day, 49-orbit rendezvous in place of the usual two-day, 34-orbit profile. NASA explained the manual docking backup, TORU, which the crew on board could use if the automated Kurs system failed.
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Watch this moment · 14:35
TORU checked out
Cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov activated and tested the TORU backup from the Zvezda service module and checked its hand controllers. It is used only if Kurs fails, and both controllers worked.
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Watch this moment · 21:50
Fly-around
At about 400 metres Progress began an automated fly-around to line up its docking probe with Poisk. After a pause at 150 to 200 metres, final approach began, with closure slowing to about a tenth of a metre per second near contact.
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Watch this moment · 45:45
19 September 2026, 9:44 a.m. EDT
Capture
Contact and capture came as the station flew 260 miles over the Black Sea, two minutes before the scheduled 9:46. The hooks closed for a hard mate.
Key facts
| Vehicle | Soyuz |
|---|---|
| Mission name | Progress 96 |
| Launch site | Baikonur Cosmodrome |
| Crew size | 0 |
| Duration | 3 days to dock |
| Outcome | Success |
Videos about this mission
The videos, in date order
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September 2026
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Dates are when each video was first published on YouTube.
What Progress carries
Progress is an uncrewed Russian cargo ship built on the Soyuz design. This one carried 2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the seven people of Expedition 75, according to the broadcasts. Another vehicle, Progress 95, was still docked at the aft port of Zvezda.
On board were NASA's Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway and Anil Menon, ESA's Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev. Video 388 notes that Meir, Hathaway, Adenot and Fedyaev were weeks from returning on Crew-12 Dragon Freedom.
The longer chase
The launch time of the Baikonur pad and the station's plane fix the day. For a launch on 16 September the orbital mechanics, as NASA told it, drove the longer profile. The first burns to raise the altitude came about three and a half hours after launch.
The approach was automated. Kurs supplied range and closing rate to the Progress computers. Dubrov and Anna Kikina were ready to take manual control at the TORU station if it failed. About three hours after docking, the crew was to open the hatches and begin unloading after leak checks.
What the next flight changed
Questions and answers
What did Progress 96 carry?
2.8 tons of food, fuel and supplies for the Expedition 75 crew, according to NASA's coverage.
Why did it take three days to reach the station?
The orbital mechanics for the 16 September launch date drove a three-day, 49-orbit profile, instead of the usual two days and 34 orbits.
Where did it dock?
At the Poisk module on the space-facing side of the Russian segment, at 9:44 a.m. Eastern time on 19 September 2026.
What is TORU?
A manual backup for the automated Kurs docking system, operated with joysticks by a cosmonaut in the Zvezda module.
Who was aboard the station?
Seven people: Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Anil Menon, Sophie Adenot, Pyotr Dubrov, Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev.
Sources: The facts and written text on this page come from the 2 videos on this page, by NASA.
