The Roscosmos Progress 96 cargo spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station on September 19, 2026, delivering roughly three tons of food, fuel, and supplies for the Expedition 75 crew following a September 16 launch from Kazakhstan.
Space station operations received a vital boost when the uncrewed freighter secured itself to the space-facing port of the station’s Poisk module at 9:44 a.m. EDT Saturday according to the space agency’s mission logs. The spacecraft is delivering about three tons of food, fuel and supplies for the Expedition 75 crew and will remain at the space station for about five months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry that will dispose of trash. The arrival caps off a three-day orbital journey that began when the vehicle lifted off at 9:33 a.m. (6:33 p.m. Baikonur time) on Sept. 16 on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan as reported in livestream commentary highlighting a flawless ascent and smooth solar array deployment.
Cargo Manifest and Orbital Resupply Operations
The freighter hauled approximately three tons of vital supplies, including propellant and food provisions earmarked specifically to sustain the seven astronauts and cosmonauts currently living and working in low Earth orbit. Progress 96 is loaded with about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies for the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This fleet member joins a rotating roster of resupply vehicles servicing the orbiting laboratory. Progress is one of four cargo spacecraft that resupply the ISS these days, along with Japan’s HTV-X, Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus and SpaceX’s Dragon capsule. All are expendable except Dragon, which — like its astronaut-carrying counterpart, Crew Dragon — makes parachute-aided ocean splashdowns, standing apart as the only resupply craft in the current rotation capable of ocean returns rather than destructive atmospheric disposal.
Expedition 75 Crew and Port Management
Managing the arrival required careful orbital housekeeping. This mission follows the departure of the Progress 94 spacecraft on September 7, which had been docked to the ISS’s Poisk module and made space for Progress 96. The newly arrived freighter will remain attached to the complex for about five months before departing for a planned destructive re-entry that will dispose of trash to support ongoing station activities.
The resupply mission supports a multinational crew of seven representing major space agencies. Currently, seven astronauts and cosmonauts are working aboard the ISS. The orbital roster includes NASA’s Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir, and Anil Menon, along with the European Space Agency’s Sophie Adenot, who made history last month as the first French woman to conduct a spacewalk. Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov, Andrey Fedyaev, and Anna Kikina also form part of the onboard crew, continuing ongoing scientific research and operations in low Earth orbit.
Mission Timeline and Event Summary
| Mission Milestone | Date | Operational Details |
| Launch | September 16, 2026 | Lifted off at 9:33 a.m. EDT (1333 GMT; 6:33 p.m. Baikonur time) from Baikonur Cosmodrome via Soyuz rocket. |
| Station Docking | September 19, 2026 | Secured to the space-facing port of the Poisk module at 9:44 a.m. EDT. |
| Station Duration | September 2026 – Early 2027 | Scheduled to remain docked at the space station for about five months. |
| Final Disposal | Early 2027 (Planned) | Destructive re-entry that will dispose of trash. |
When the mission eventually concludes months from now, flight controllers will pack the hull with waste before sending the vehicle into a planned destructive re-entry that will dispose of trash.
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