In accordance with the prelaunch processing schedule, manufacturer's checkout testing of Nauka module continues at the processing facility of Area 254 of the Baikonur launch site. Its launch towards the Russian Segment of the International Space Station (ISS) on the launch vehicle Proton-M is scheduled for 2021.
At Baikonur cosmodrome prelaunch processing operations began on cargo transportation spacecraft Progress MS-16 for the launch under the program of the 77th resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz MS-18 intended for delivering onboard the ISS the crew of Expedition 65.
January 12 marks the 114th anniversary of Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the first Chief Designer of rocket and space hardware, the founder and the first head of OKB-1 (now RSC Energia).