On October 16, a medium launch vehicle Soyuz-FG integrated with the new-series manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-02 was rolled out of the processing facility and erected on the launch pad of Area 31 of the Baikonur cosmodrome.

Specialists of RSC Energia and other organizations involved in the preparations for launch are performing the final processing operations on the launch pad. Pre-launch tests are being run on systems and assemblies of the space launcher system, interfaces between the onboard hardware and ground support equipment are being checked out.

The launch of the crew transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-02 is scheduled for October 19 from Pad Area 31 of the Baikonur launch site.

The main crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Andrei Borisenko and NASA astronaut Robert Shane Kimbrough. The backup crew consists of Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexander Misurkin and Nikolai Tikhonov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.

The manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS developed and built by RSC Energia is designed to deliver the crews of up to three and their accompanying cargoes to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as to return them to Earth. When attached to the ISS, it also serves as a crew rescue vehicle and is kept permanently ready for emergency crew return to Earth.