Russian cargo spacecraft suffers glitch after launching toward International Space Station

Progress 94 Cargo Ship Docking - YouTube

A Russian cargo spacecraft encountered a problem shortly after launching toward the International Space Station on Sunday morning (March 22), but it should be able to power through.

The launch went well, but Progress 94 suffered an issue shortly after deploying from its rocket ride: One of the antennas it's supposed to use for automatic docking did not deploy, according to NASA.

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Following launch, one of the Progress spacecraft’s antennas used for automatic docking did not deploy as planned. All other systems are operating as designed, and Progress will continue toward its planned docking at 9:34 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 22. Troubleshooting will… pic.twitter.com/VoR2yiAWfCMarch 22, 2026

"All other systems are operating as designed, and Progress will continue toward its planned docking at 9:34 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 22," agency officials said via X on Sunday. "Troubleshooting will continue and if the antenna cannot be deployed, Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergey Kud-Sverchkov will manually pilot the spacecraft through a backup system for rendezvous and docking at the space station."

Progress 94 is carrying about 3 tons of food, propellant and other supplies to the astronauts currently living and working on board the International Space Station (ISS).

As NASA's update notes, the freighter is expected to dock with the station's Poisk module on Tuesday morning. Progress 94 will take the place of Progress 92, which undocked from Poisk on Monday (March 16).

You'll be able to watch Progress 94's arrival, with coverage beginning Tuesday at 8:45 a.m EDT (1245 GMT).

a white rocket climbs into a blue sky. — The Soyuz carries Progress 94 aloft. (Image credit: NASA/Roscosmos)

Progress 94 will spend about six months docked to the ISS. It will then be loaded up with trash and sent to burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

Two other currently operational ISS cargo craft are similarly expendable — Japan's HTV-X and Cygnus, which is built by the aerospace company Northrop Grumman. The only reusable freighter is SpaceX's Dragon capsule.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:45 a.m. ET on March 22 with news of launch and the antenna-deployment glitch.

Michael Wall is the Spaceflight and Tech Editor for Space.com and joined the team in 2010. He primarily covers human and robotic spaceflight, military space, and exoplanets, but has been known to dabble in the space art beat. His book about the search for alien life, "Out There," was published on Nov. 13, 2018. Before becoming a science writer, Michael worked as a herpetologist and wildlife biologist. He has a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology from the University of Sydney, Australia, a bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz. To find out what his latest project is, you can follow Michael on Twitter.