For the first time in the 25-year history of the International Space Station, all docking nodes are occupied by spacecraft simultaneously. Eight spacecraft are docked to the ISS at once, which is a real record.
The reason for this "orbital congestion" is the tight launch schedule of cargo and manned spacecraft from several space agencies. The Russian segment of the station is receiving two manned Soyuz (MS-27 and MS-28) and two cargo Progress (MS-31 and MS-32). The American segment is occupied by two SpaceX Dragon ships – the CRS-33 cargo ship and the Crew-11 manned ship, the Japanese HTV-X1 cargo ship, and the Cygnus-23 cargo ship from Northrop Grumman.
The high density of ships required additional maneuvers for safe docking. In order for Soyuz MS-28 to dock, the station crew temporarily moved Cygnus-23 using the Canadarm2 manipulator, freeing up a corridor for approach and docking.
The situation will change in the coming days: on December 9, Soyuz MS-27 will undock from the ISS and return the crew of the 73rd expedition to Earth – Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergei Ryzhikov and Alexei Zubritsky, as well as NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.
