Representatives of the technical management and the state commission at the Baikonur cosmodrome made a decision on the readiness of the space transportation system consisting of the new-series crew transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-03 and launch vehicle (LV) Soyuz-FG to be rolled out and erected on the launch pad.

The final assembly of space transportation system has been successfully completed. During the day, the orbital module with the spacecraft was mated to the third stage of the rocket at the launch vehicle processing facility.

Rolling-out of the launch vehicle with Soyuz MS spacecraft and erecting it on the on the launch pad of Area 1 (“Gagarin’s launch pad”) of the Baikonur cosmodrome are scheduled for November 14.

The launch of the CTS Soyuz MS-03 with the crew of the next expedition to the International Space Station (ISS) is scheduled for November 17, 2016. The main crew of ISS-50/51 consists of a Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. Their backups are a Roscosmos cosmonaut Fyodor YURCHIKHIN, a NASA astronaut Jack FISCHER, and an ESA astronaut Paolo NESPOLI.

The new-series spacecraft Soyuz MS was developed as a result of a radical upgrade of Soyuz TMA spacecraft. It is designed to deliver crews of up to three and their accompanying cargoes to the International Space Station, 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.