Disposal Deorbited Decay date 28 April 1990 | COSPAR ID 1990-020A Launch date 28 February 1990 | |
Launch mass 7,250 kilograms (15,980 lb) Manufacturer S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia Similar Progress M‑50, Progress M‑51, Progress M‑45, Progress M‑66 | ||
Progress M-3 was a Soviet unmanned cargo spacecraft which was launched in 1990 to resupply the Mir space station. The twentieth of sixty four Progress flights to visit Mir, it was a Progress-M 11F615A55 spacecraft, and had the serial number 203. It carried supplies including food, water and oxygen for the EO-6 crew aboard Mir, as well as equipment for conducting scientific research, and fuel for adjusting the station's orbit and performing manoeuvres.
Progress M-3 was launched at 23:10:57 GMT on 28 February 1990, atop a Soyuz-U2 carrier rocket flying from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It docked with the aft port of the Kvant-1 module at 01:04:32 GMT on 3 March. During the 56 days for which it was docked with Mir, the station was in an orbit of around 378 by 400 kilometres (204 by 216 nmi), with 51.6 degrees of inclination.
Progress M-3 undocked at 20:24:43 GMT on 27 April to make way for Progress 42. It was deorbited at 00:00:00 GMT the next day. It burned up in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, with any remaining debris landing in the ocean at around 00:52 GMT.