Soyuz MS-19

Background and film project

On 14 May 2021, the Interagency Committee approved the ISS crew composition for 2021–2023, selecting cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov as commander along with actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko for the film The Challenge. The film was a joint project of Roscosmos, Channel One, and the Yellow, Black and White studio. The back-up crew, chosen after passing the medical committee, comprised actress Alena Mordovina, director Alexei Dudin, and commander Oleg Artemyev.

Training began on 24 May 2021 at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. On 23 July 2021, the prime crew completed a four-hour simulation inside a Soyuz replica wearing Sokol suits; the back-up crew performed the same exercise on 28 July 2021. Back-up commander Oleg Artemyev described the back-up Spaceflight Participants' performance as outstanding. Pre-launch preparation of the spacecraft started on 30 July 2021.

On 31 August 2021, the medical committee declared both crews healthy for flight. Filming equipment was launched on Progress MS-17 and returned on Soyuz MS-18. The project faced opposition from scientific and aerospace communities, who argued it removed trained cosmonauts from flights, misused public money, or that using station resources for non-scientific purposes might be illegal. Igor Krasnov, Procurator General of Russia, opened an investigation into the legality of using space station resources.

Sergei Krikalev, director of crewed programs at Roscosmos, reportedly lost his position after speaking out against the project but was reinstated days later following protests from active and former cosmonauts.

Expansion of Russian Orbital Segment

The ISS flight manifest drafted by Roscosmos in fall 2020 scheduled the Prichal module for launch on 24 November 2021, docking at Nauka's nadir port two days later. Prichal became the second addition to the Russian Orbital Segment in 2021. One of its ports has an active hybrid docking port for Nauka; the other five are passive hybrids for Soyuz, Progress, and future spacecraft.

This configuration allows the Russian Orbital Segment to operate independently after 2024. On 19 January 2022, cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Petr Dubrov performed a spacewalk to lay cables between Nauka and Prichal. Seven additional spacewalks were planned through 2022 to complete integration of both modules.

Did You Know?

• Klim Shipenko shot about 35–40 minutes of film on the ISS, serving as director, operator, art director, and makeup artist.
• Dmitry Rogozin revealed that Konstantin Ernst, Director General of Channel One, paid for Shipenko and Peresild's seats after the successful landing of Soyuz MS-18.