Soyuz TMA-18M

Russia

Manned Flight nº: 303

Earth orbit Flight nº: 300

Russia manned Flight nº: 134

81th manned flight to ISS. Flight: ISS-**

Launch, orbit & landing data:

Designation	40885 / 15043A
Launch date - time	02 Sept 2015 - 04:37:43 UT
Launch site	Baikonur, LC1/5
Launch vehicle	Soyuz-FG (#xx)
Soyuz designation	11F732 nº
Mass (kg)	kg
Docking date - time	04 Sep 2015 - 07:39:02 UT
Target spacecraft/port	ISS/Poisk
Earth orbit at ISS :
- Perigee / Apogee	401 x 402 km
- Inclination	51.7°
- Period	min
Undocking date - time	02 March 2016 - 01:03:48 UT
Deorbit burn date - time	02 March 2015 - 03:32 UT
Landing date - time	02 March 2016 - 04:25:50 UT
Landing location	47°20'38,34"N, 69°41'56,28"E
Flight Duration (d:hr:min)	181d 23h 07s
Nbr orbits	2833
Landing crew	Volkov (18M) Kornienko & Kelly (16M)

Launched Crew

Nr.	Name	Job	Duration
1	Volkov, Sergei (CIS)	Commander	181d 23h 48m 07s
2	Mogensen, Andreas (Denmark)	Flight Engineer	9d 20h 13m 51s - 156 orbits
3	Aimbetov, Aidyn (Kazakhstan)	Spaceflight Participant	9d 20h 13m 51s - 156 orbits

Flight crew

Note: - Originally it was planned to fly Sarah Brightman as Spaceflight Participant but on May 13, 2015 she announced that she dropped down the training.
- Andreas Mogensen and Aydyn Aimbetov landed on September 12, 2015 at 00:51:34 UTC with Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft.

Backup Crew

Nr.	Name	Job
1	Skripochka, Oleg (CIS)	Commander
2	Pesquet, Thomas	Flight Engineer
3	Prokopyev, Sergei Valerievich	Flight engineer

Takamatsu Satoshi replaced by Prokopyev Sergei as backup for Soyuz TMA-18M.

Mission Report:

ISS Expedition 45/46.
Following a two day solo flight Soyuz TMA-18M docked to ISS on September 04, 2015. Sergei Volkov became member of the next resident crew (Expedition 45) (together with Scott Kelly, Mikhail Korniyenko, Oleg Kononenko, Kimiya Yui and Kjell Lindgren, while Andreas Mogensen and Aydyn Aimbetov are set to return with Soyuz TMA-16M.
The longer approach rather than the expedited four-orbit, six-hour approach comes as a result of the space station having performed a debris avoidance maneuver in August 2015. The outpost's current altitude is not conducive to the same day arrival.
EP-18 visiting crew members Mogensen and Aimbetov undocked with Soyuz TMA-16M at 21:29 UT on Sep 11, 2015. Soyuz TMA-16M landed in Kazakhstan at 0051:36 UTC Sep 12.
On Mar 2, 2015 at 0102 UTC Volkov, Kornienko and Kelly, aboard Soyuz TMA-18M, undocked from the Poisk module, concluding Expedition 46.
Soyuz TMA-18M made the deorbit burn at 0332 UTC and landed in Kazakhstan at 0426 UTC. Soyuz commander Volkov had spent six months in space, while Kornienko and Kelly completed 340d 8h 21min in space, or about 0.93 years.

Soyuz TMA-18M recovery.

External links:

Spaceflight 101: Satellite Information

Astrophilately covers:

Launch cancel Baikonur 02.09.15, registered mail.

Launch cancel Baikonur, original path with Sarah Brightman name, signed by crew

Launch cancel Kazakstan, signed by the crew. Credit: #404

Landing cancel Kazakstan, signed by the crew.

Ref.: #7(JR715-716,723), #16, #110, #401, #404 - update: 22.12.2025

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