Crew of Russia's Soyuz MS-17 Preparing for Record Fast Flight to ISS, Training Centre Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The crew of the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft set to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in October is preparing for a record fast flight, with the route calculated to take about three hours, Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre said on Wednesday.

"The ISS-64 crew is preparing to fly on a two-turn route to the space station ... It will be possible to fly to the ISS on the Soyuz MS spaceship in three hours and 20 minutes," the centre said in a statement.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-17 spacecraft from the Baikonur spaceport is scheduled for October 14. The main crew includes NASA astronaut Kathleen Rubins, and Russian cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, who are expected to remain at the ISS until April 17, 2021.

Russian space freighters usually use a standard two-day (34 turns) or short six-hour (four turns) circuits to reach the ISS. Soyuz spacecraft have been flying to the station with the six-hour route.

Since 2018, Progress spacecraft have tested the three-hour route and successfully reached the ISS multiple times.