Events on the International Space Station have been more muted after the excitement of the Soyuz MS-22 coolant leak. On 6 January three cubesats were released. SURYASAT-1, OPTIMAL-1 and HSKSAT-1 which were carried on the J-SSOD #24 deployer and was extracted from the Kibo airlock by the Japanese JRMS robot arm. The three were deployed on 6 January 2023 starting with SURYASAT-1 at 0802 GMT, OPTIMAL-1 at 0900 GMT, and HSKSAT-1 at 0932 GMT. Dragon CRS-26 had originally carried the three (with others) and their deployer sto the ISS on 26 November 2022.
Dragon CRS-26 departs the ISS. Its nose cone is still open. Courtesy: SpaceX
On 9 January 2023 at 2205 GMT the uncrewed DRAGON CRS-26 Commercial Resupply Services craft undocked from the zenith port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module after receiving commands from flight controllers on the ground. On 11 January 2023 at 1019 GMT, DRAGON CRS-26 successfully splashed down off the coast of Tampa, Florida, USA. Prior to splashdown CRS-26 separated from the trunk (which will eventually re-enter due to atmospheric drag) before conducted a final deorbit burn, setting a course to land off the coast of Florida. The SpaceX’s recovery ream retrieved CRS-26 before transporting by helicopter around 2,000 kg of supplies and scientific investigations to the Space Station Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. One Dragon remains docked to the ISS, the CREW DRAGON – NASA CREW 5 (ENDURANCE) which docked with the space station on 6 October 2022.
