Progress M-7
1991 Soviet uncrewed cargo spacecraft
title: "Progress M-7" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["spacecraft-launched-in-1991", "1991-in-the-soviet-union", "progress-(spacecraft)-missions"] description: "1991 Soviet uncrewed cargo spacecraft" topic_path: "general/spacecraft-launched-in-1991" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_M-7" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1991 Soviet uncrewed cargo spacecraft ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox spaceflight"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Progress M-7 |
| mission_type | Mir resupply |
| COSPAR_ID | 1991-020A |
| spacecraft_type | Progress-M 11F615A55 |
| manufacturer | NPO Energia |
| launch_mass | 7250 kg |
| launch_date | UTC |
| launch_rocket | Soyuz-U2 |
| launch_site | Baikonur Site 1/5 |
| disposal_type | Deorbited |
| decay_date | |
| orbit_reference | Geocentric |
| orbit_regime | Low Earth |
| orbit_periapsis | 365 km |
| orbit_apoapsis | 388 km |
| orbit_inclination | 51.6 degrees |
| apsis | gee |
| docking_target | Mir |
| docking_type | dock |
| docking_port | Core Forward |
| docking_date | 28 March 1991, 12:02:28 UTC |
| undocking_date | 6 May 1991, 22:59:36 UTC |
| time_docked | 39 days |
| :: |
| name = Progress M-7 | image = | image_caption =
| mission_type = Mir resupply | operator = | COSPAR_ID = 1991-020A | SATCAT = | mission_duration =
| spacecraft_type = Progress-M 11F615A55 | manufacturer = NPO Energia | dry_mass = | launch_mass = 7250 kg
| launch_date = UTC | launch_rocket = Soyuz-U2 | launch_site = Baikonur Site 1/5 | disposal_type = Deorbited | decay_date =
| orbit_epoch = | orbit_reference = Geocentric | orbit_regime = Low Earth | orbit_periapsis = 365 km | orbit_apoapsis = 388 km | orbit_inclination = 51.6 degrees | orbit_period = | apsis = gee
| docking = | docking_target = Mir | docking_type = dock | docking_port = Core Forward | docking_date = 28 March 1991, 12:02:28 UTC | undocking_date = 6 May 1991, 22:59:36 UTC | time_docked = 39 days
| cargo_mass = | cargo_mass_press = | cargo_mass_fuel = | cargo_mass_gas = | cargo_mass_water = Progress M-7 () was a Soviet uncrewed cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1991 to resupply the Mir space station. The twenty-fifth of sixty four Progress spacecraft to visit Mir, it used the Progress-M 11F615A55 configuration, and had the serial number 208. It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-8 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres. It also carried the second VBK-Raduga capsule, intended to return equipment and experiment results to Earth.
Progress M-7 was launched at 13:05:15 GMT on 19 March 1991, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It took three attempts to dock with Mir; the first of which occurred at 14:28 GMT on 21 March, and resulted in Progress M-7 approaching to within 500 m of Mir, before the attempt was aborted. During a second attempt on 23 March, approach was aborted when the spacecraft was 50 m from Mir; however, it passed within 5 m before moving away to a holding position whilst the problem was investigated. The first two attempts had used the aft docking port of the Kvant-1 module; however, it was decided to use the forward port of the core module for the next one. At 10:12:00 GMT on 26 March, the Soyuz TM-11 spacecraft which had been occupying this port undocked from it, before flying around the station and docking with Kvant-1 at 10:58:59. Progress M-7 successfully docked with Mir at 12:02:28 GMT on 28 March.
During the 39 days for which Progress M-7 was docked, Mir was in an orbit of around 365 by, inclined at 51.6 degrees. Progress M-7 undocked from Mir at 22:59:36 GMT on 6 May, and was deorbited at 16:24:00 the next day, to a destructive reentry over the Pacific Ocean. Its Raduga capsule, which had been deployed following the deorbit burn, came down in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic at around 17:20 GMT; however, efforts to recover it were unsuccessful.
References
References
- "Progress M-7". US National Space Science Data Center.
- Krebs, Gunter. "Progress-M 1 - 13, 15 - 37, 39 - 67 (11F615A55, 7KTGM)". Gunter's Space Page.
- McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page.
- Wade, Mark. "Mir EO-8". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
- Wade, Mark. "Progress M". Encyclopedia Astronautica.
- Anikeev, Alexander. "Cargo spacecraft "Progress M-7"". Manned Astronautics - Figures & Facts.
- McDowell, Jonathan. "Satellite Catalog". Jonathan's Space Page.
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