The rocket was launched on March 23 from launch pad number 31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Initially, the takeoff of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft was scheduled for March 21, but it was canceled some 20 seconds before departure.
The cause of the launch cancellation was a problem in the electrical system of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket.
After the successful launch of the spacecraft into orbit, Vasilevskaya became the first woman in the history of Belarus to travel to space.
Novitski and Vasilevskaya will stay in orbit for 12 days and will return to Earth on April 6 in the Soyuz MS-24 spacecraft, along with astronaut Loral O’Hara, from the United States, who has remained on the ISS since September 15.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who arrived at the station on the same date, will remain there for more than a year and will return in the Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft along with Dyson.
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