2026-09-19 (postscript, thread remains closed): docking completed on
schedule — Progress 96 (NASA designation) to Poisk 9:44 AM EDT,
~3 tons for Expedition 75. Record complete.
2026-09-16 (backfill digest): resolved — Soyuz 2.1b launched Progress
MS-35 today 9:34 AM ET (13:34 UTC); docking to Poisk Sep 19, 13:47
UTC (Pavlushchenko). Manifest routine (1,177 kg incl. 842 kg fuel,
420 kg water, 50 kg oxygen). Thread closes; the third-stage cause was
never Roscosmos-confirmed — the crewed-Soyuz question was never
answered and never tested.
2026-09-13 MS-35 rolled back to the pad at Baikonur for a second
launch attempt Wednesday Sep 16 (Zak via Foust, per Kazakh
media). Watch item resolves to an imminent attempt; Roscosmos still
hasn't confirmed the third-stage cause.
September 2026 · 2 updates
2026-09-08 unofficial cause — Zak (via Foust RT): hydraulics issue,
Roscosmos unconfirmed. Single source, explicitly "I hear"; treat as
reported. Crewed-Soyuz question unchanged.
2026-09-07 opened from the space digest. Single-sourced via
Pavlushchenko/Foust ("according to the sources") — reported, not
Roscosmos-confirmed.
Background
The thread: routine Russian resupply cadence, tracked only when it
breaks. Progress MS33 undocked from Poisk and deorbited Sept 7
(routine); its replacement MS35 slipped ~a week on a Soyuz 2.1b
third-stage issue — an unusual "b" modification for a Progress flight.
Watch for: MS35 launch confirmation (~week of Sept 14 if the slip
holds), any official Roscosmos statement, whether the third-stage
issue touches the crewed Soyuz line.