MOSCOW. Feb 3 (Interfax) - The International Space Station (ISS)'s orbit has been adjusted by 2.4 kilometers by burning the Progress MS-20 resupply ship's engines to prepare for the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship's descent, Roscosmos said on Friday.
"Engines of the Progress MS-20 resupply ship were started at 1:30 p.m. on February 3. According to the preliminary information, the average altitude of the station's orbit increased by 2.4 kilometers as a result of the adjustment maneuver to 417.8 kilometers above our planet's surface," Roscosmos said on Telegram.
Roscosmos explained the orbit adjustment with the need for landing the capsule in the designated area.
Roscosmos head Yury Borisov said on January 11 that the Soyuz MS-22 spaceship with a damaged radiator would land unmanned.
A state commission approved the unmanned launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spaceship to the ISS on February 20 with cargo onboard, he said. It is schedule to dock with the ISS on February 22.
The Russian-U.S. crew of the faulty Soyuz MS-22 - Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio - may use it to return to Earth.