An unmanned Russian spacecraft, which suffered a major coolant leak in December last year, has successfully landed on Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos, the Russian space agency said on Tuesday.

“Its de-orbiting and descent to Earth went smoothly!” Roscosmos wrote on Telegram.

The leaky Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft cast off from its docking port on the Russian-built Rassvet module of the ISS without any astronauts aboard at 5:57 a.m. EDT (3:27 p.m. IST).

The agency also noted that the Soyuz delivered “218 kg of cargo from the ISS, including the results of scientific experiments and station equipment for analysis or reuse”.

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The Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft had blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 21, 2022, taking Sergei Prokopyev, Dmitry Petelin and a NASA astronaut to the ISS for a six-month stay in orbit.

In December last year, the crew aboard the ISS found damage to the outer skin of the instrument-assembly compartment of Soyuz MS-22.

They reported that the warning device of the spaceship’s diagnostic system went off, indicating a pressure drop in the cooling system, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement by Roscosmos.

Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina, using a camera on a manipulator mounted on the Nauka multifunctional laboratory module, photographed and filmed the outer surface of the Soyuz MS-22 and transmitted the data back to Earth for study.

The spacecraft will now be studied to better understand how its coolant leak occurred, as well as what a landing without coolant is likely to aid in future missions, Roscosmos officials said.

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